The Sound of My Heart
by Cosima-wants-the-D-elphine
Summary: As requested by lazytown2000, a follow-up/sequel to my fic, "Suicidally Beautiful." So therefore it is CopDoc. You really don't have to read the other story to understand this one, so that's a plus. Also, there are other requested things, (can't say without spoiling). So that's another plus. All titles are song titles or lines from songs. Enjoy and thanks for reading!
1. Fine By Me

"You did a really nice job cleaning up, you know..." Lauren remarked as she sat near Tamsin by the counter. The taller woman sat slouching on a stool and munching on toast she'd made for herself.

Lauren stole a piece of the Valkyrie's toast and bit into it, cringing the moment it touched her tongue.

"_Wow_, is this burnt."

"Told ya not to take my food," Tamsin replied with a smirking mouthful. "And I haven't cleaned anything in months."

And while that makes it seem like their apartment was dirty, it was far from it. Lauren did all the cleaning. She couldn't live with any grime whatsoever, unlike her girlfriend.

"I know, that was the point of saying that," Lauren told her as she put the slice of toast back on her plate.

"The last time I cleaned was when I was going to leave you, remember? Do you _really_ want me to clean when you've made that association?" Tamsin teased as she picked up her returned toast and smiled.

"Oh, so you _were_ listening to me when I was explaining to you about psychological conditioning."

"How could I not? You only mention Padlock like fifteen million times a day," Tamsin retorted.

"It's _Pavlov_ and I mention him only about once a month... I've cut back, which is remarkable for me, considering. Don't you think? And I talk about him because he is a prominent Russian physiologist known for his experiments with conditioning."

"_Was_ a prominent Russian physiologist—he's dead, right?"

"_Is_. He's still relevant, dead or not."

"Well, I'm _more_ relevant," Tamsin playfully argued and ate the rest of her toast. Lauren hesitated.

"Well, I mean... That depends. In what aspect are you referring?"

"Wow, thanks. I thought I was your number one always and forever amen," Tamsin joked as she stood up to go put her plate in the sink.

"I don't know... Pavlov is some stiff competition," Lauren responded as she hugged the Valkyrie from behind.

"You're tellin' me. Ol' Padlock is eighty years _dead_. Of course he's stiff," she harrumphed.

"Can't argue with that," Lauren chuckled, kissing her shoulder and releasing her. "So what shall we do today?"

"'_We_?'" Tamsin asked, her face scrunching up with confusion. "You don't have work?"

"No... I was going to call in sick. I wanted to spend time with you," Lauren told her adoringly. Tamsin felt herself grow uncomfortable and nonchalantly backed away from the doctor.

"Oh... Lauren... I actually have something to do today... I'm sorry," Tamsin apologized, cringing as she spoke.

"Oh," Lauren sighed deflatedly.

"Yeah... But you know maybe we can do something this weekend. It's only a day away," the Valkyrie chuckled, trying to make the human feel better about the dodge.

"Maybe..." the human nodded with disappointment. She was killing Tamsin, but the Valkyrie had no room to budge in regards to her schedule.

"I promise we'll do something really special this weekend. I'll make it up to you," she tried, but Lauren still looked down. She pressed her lips together and wracked her brain for anything else that'd cheer her up. "We can um..."

She thought and thought.

"...Eat stuff. Together like. Okay? We'll do something, I promise. But I gotta go now," she gave her a peck on the lips before sliding out the door and leaving Lauren alone in the apartment.

"_Tamsin_..." she murmured and shook her head once the Valkyrie was gone. "You're never around anymore."

She and the Valkyrie had smoothed everything over months ago, that was true. But about a month and a half after, the Valkyrie had begun to behave erratically—she always had places to be, people to meet, all of which she did without Lauren.

It's not that Lauren necessarily wanted to get caught up in whatever Tamsin was, but she wanted to at least spend some time with her. Even if it meant doing something she wasn't particularly find of.

But that never came to pass. Tamsin was always going out and never explaining. She'd even begun wondering if the Valkyrie was seeing someone else. Tamsin had never struck her as one to stay in one place for too long and that had to include the inhabitants of said place.

The doctor sighed and put on her lab coat. Looks like she was going to work after all.

•••

"Tamsin, everything is in place like I promised before. Which was only_ yesterday_," Trick informed her flatly. "Relax."

"Don't tell me to relax, old man."

"Sorry. Look, everything has been squared away and you're just going to have to trust me. Okay?"

Tamsin breathed heavily, but nodded reluctantly and sat back on her stool.

"Okay," she replied. "And remember—"

"Yes, I know. Saturday. That's tomorrow."

"Good."

"Tamsin, I'm not going to forget. You've been telling me for almost two months now."

"Hey, you're kind of old. I was giving you some leeway."

"Your faith in me is astounding."

"Last time I trusted someone, they fucked shit up. Granted, they fixed it, but that was pure hell that I don't intend to ever go through again. Ever."

"I won't '_fuck shit up_,' Tamsin. I promise."

"I trust you," she told him with a smirk. "But my nerves don't."

"Understood," he smiled as he saluted her. She slid off her stool and made her way out.

•••

"Tamsin, do you remember only a few days ago you fed me burnt toast?" Lauren asked her, staring at her as she tried to get a read on her state of mind. But she could only analyze half the Valkyrie's face as she looked at the road ahead.

"Okay, I did not _feed_ you burnt toast," Tamsin chuckled, pointing her index finger at the doctor. "You _stole_ it, remember?"

"Well, point is that you burnt it. And I don't mean to make you feel bad, but how is cooking me dinner a treat?"

"Ouch, Dr. Lewis... Aren't you supposed to heal people rather than hurt them?"

"Sorry," Lauren laughed and turned back to face forward. "And how do you expect to cook if we're going out?"

"Okay, I'm not cooking. I lied. But in my defense, I never said I was _cooking _dinner. I said I was _providing_ dinner," Tamsin told her.

The doctor laughed even harder and replied, "I feel _so_ much better now."

"Wow, fuck you too..." Tamsin stuck her tongue out and grinned. Lauren shrugged.

"Maybe later."

The Valkyrie turned and looked at the human, her eyes full of adoration as she leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Upon opening her eyes and looking out the corners of them, she swerved, avoiding the edge of the road.

"You're a real hazard, Trauma Queen..."

"You never forget about that story?"

"I cling to every word you say," Tamsin reminded her, licking her lips and favoring the faint, lingering taste of the doctor's lips. She pulled into the parking lot of the Dal Riata and cut the engine. "Stay here for a sec?"

Lauren nodded curiously and watched the Valkyrie get out of her truck and walk around the front of it and open the door for her.

"You wanted me to stay here just so you could open the door for me?" Lauren chuckled softly as she got out. Tamsin closed the door and grabbed her hand as she kissed her on the cheek.

"Sure."

"You're too kind," she responded as they walked to the door. She could hear music blasting from inside the bar and upon entering, she saw that the tables and chairs had been pushed to one section, more compacted, and the remaining space had become some sort of a dance floor. "What's going on here?"

Tamsin pointed to a chalk board that stood on the ground near the entrance:

_**WELCOME**_

_**The Dal Riata is proud to introduce its newest theme:**_

_**Dance the Wine Away**_

"Looks like Trick is trying to attract a new crowd," Tamsin commented with a sideways glance at the new sign. "I don't know what he expects... He's a little to old for dance parties."

"Business seems usual—at least it hasn't driven anyone away."

"True," Tamsin nodded as they approached a table.

She and Lauren sat down across from each other.

"Shit, I left my wallet in the truck..." Tamsin realized as she patted all her pockets down, searching for the small leather wallet. She looked to Lauren apologetically and said, "Be right back?"

Lauren nodded and watched the Valkyrie go before turning to Trick, who'd come by with two plates with a small dessert on them and drinks.

"So much for dinner..." Lauren rolled her eyes with an amused smile. But what else should she have expected from the Valkyrie, whose horrible dietary habits were unmatched?

The doctor sighed and stared at the door, listening to the current song and waiting for Tamsin to return.

_You're not the type, type of girl to remain_

_With the guy, with the guy_

_Too shy, too afraid to say he'll give his heart to you forever_

_I'm not the boy who will fall to his knees_

_With his hands clasped tight_

_Begging, begging you please_

_To stay with him for worse or for better._

"So... Come here often, cutie?" Tamsin asked the doctor, nudging her with a smile before she took her seat.

_But I'm staring at you now;_

_There's no one else around._

_I'm thinkin' you're the girl for me._

"You'll have to do better than that," Lauren told her, feigning disinterest as she began to eat the food in front of her.

"What if I did this?" Tamsin asked before kissing her on the lips. Lauren smiled into it and gently pulled away.

_I'm just sayin' it's fine by me_

_If you never leave._

_And we can lay like this forever,_

_It's fine by me..._

"Oh, I don't know..."

"Dr. Lewis, are you playing hard to get?" Tamsin asked with dramatic incredulity. "Because from what I can tell, I already have you."

"Yeah... You do," she admitted as she took another forkful.

"That's a good thing to know," Tamsin told her with a smile, but her tone sounded serious. She took a small bit of her own food to cover her sudden bout of insecurity.

"Hey, don't be thinking you don't," Lauren told her.

"I know how you humans are," she smirked.

_But with you, you, you,_

_I can see what I need,_

_I can dream realistically._

_I knew that this was different from the start._

"Gee, thanks," Lauren remarked sarcastically as she continued eating.

_And it seems that every time_

_We're eye-to-eye,_

_I can find another piece of you_

_That I don't wanna lose._

An easy silence settled between them. The Valkyrie smiled, finding herself just as blissful as the doctor as well as in love with her.

_And I'm starin' at you now,_

_There's no one else around._

_I'm thinkin' you're the girl I need._

Upon finishing her dessert, the doctor noticed a note underneath the crumbs that'd been incorporated into the plate's design, yet she knew that handwriting anywhere.

_I'm just sayin' it's fine by me_

_If you never leave._

_And we can lay like this forever,_

_It's fine by me._

The picture on the plate read clear as day, "Marry Me?"

Lauren read it over a few times to make sure it was really there and that it really did say what she perceived it to say.

_I'm just sayin' it's fine by me_

_if you never leave._

_And we can lay like this forever,_

_it's by me._

"Lauren Lewis..." Tamsin called her and the doctor looked up just as the Valkyrie got on one knee and pulled out a small black box.

_And it's never easy._

_Darling, believe me,_

_I'm as skeptical as you—_

_but when I think of_

_life without "us,"_

_it seems like what we're supposed to do..._

"You are the sweetest, smartest, silliest, most patient person I've ever known," Tamsin told her wholeheartedly. "And I love you so much. You're the type of person I'd love to spend the rest of my life with, if you'll let me..."

_I'm just sayin' it's fine by me_

_if you never leave._

_We can lay like this forever,_

_it's fine by me._

"So will you marry me, Lauren Lewis?"

The doctor's heart pumped faster as tears prickled at her eyes. She wondered if she could even physically say the yes her mind instinctively put forth as a response.

_It's fine by me_

_if you never leave._

_And we can lay like this forever,_

_it's fine by me._

Yet through her mindless passion and excitement, she managed to utter a single-syllabled word, "Yes."

Tamsin beamed as she took the ring from its place in the box and slipped it on Lauren's finger. It fit perfectly.

"I love you," Lauren whispered and somehow Tamsin was able to hear her over the loud music and nodded with the proudest smile.

"I know," she told her as she stroked her hair before planting a tender kiss on her lips. "And I love you too."

_I'm just sayin' it's find by me_

_if we never leave._

_And we can lay like this forever,_

_it's fine by me..._


	2. The Story

Lauren jolted awake as she heard a bloodcurdling scream from downstairs. Her eyes immediately went to her bedside clock that read 2:34 AM. She blinked dumbly before reminding herself that she'd heard a shrill cry and should probably go check it out. She sighed as she slowly made her way down the stairs in the dark.

Any other night, this would've spooked her. But Tamsin had been waking up screaming at least twice a week for the past several months. The doctor accredited it to the stress of the upcoming wedding of theirs. She went over to the Valkyrie, who'd fallen asleep on the couch, and sat with her.

"Nightmare again?" she asked with a yawn.

"Yep," Tamsin nodded self-consciously.

"Want to talk about it?" Lauren asked carefully.

"Nope," Tamsin tersely responded as she pressed her lips togther.

"Want to cuddle?"

"Yep," Tamsin looked at her and smiled before putting her arm around her and kissing her forehead.

"We don't have to—"

"Shhh..." the Valkyrie shushed her. "Don't go backing out on me now."

Of course, Tamsin knew Lauren was only joking. If anything, Lauren was offering to keep her status as girlfriend rather than swapping it for the huge 'Wife' label with a capital W.

"I wasn't, it was just an offer," Lauren chuckled. "I love you."

"I love you too," Tamsin responded as she rested her head on the back of the couch and closed her eyes. "'Til the last one dies..."

Lauren looked over at the single rose leftover from the whole bouquet the Valkyrie had given her. It still looked as alive as ever. It wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, for it still had the River Styx's effects of immortality.

The doctor settled in further to the couch and the taller woman's side and relaxed, feeling Tamsin's body heat warm her. She sighed and closed her eyes before falling fast asleep.

•••

"Lauren, I'm sorry for making—"

"If this is going to be an apology for making this wedding a private one, you can stop right there," the doctor interrupted with an understanding smile. The Valkyrie had been apologizing the entire drive there. She understood the logic. Heck, it's exactly what she would've done. It was good thinking on Tamsin's part. "I know. But I'm Light, you're Dark, and that's just how it's going to be."

"We could die," Tamsin softly told her. Lauren nodded, neither of them wanting to admit the truth. In all honesty, if they were found out, Lauren would be the one to perish.

Tamsin, being Fae, wouldn't physically is per se, but living and knowing she was the cause of the human doctor's untimely end was another death to die. They'd simply curse the Valkyrie and let her walk free. Maybe jailed. Who knew with the Fae? But not poor little human Lauren. She would surely suffer. They both knew that.

"We're worth it, though. Don't you think?" Lauren asked with a smile as she took the valkyrie's hand and kissed it.

"I don't think so," Tamsin replied, faking a dubious tone before adding, "I_ know_ so."

"So are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Let's do this."


	3. Tell Her No

"So, Tamsin... I wanted to talk to you about something," Lauren told her wife as soon as the Valkyrie walked into the bedroom. Tamsin faltered and cautiously looked at Lauren, who peeked back at her over the top of a book. "It's not a bad thing. Don't worry."

"I'm worried," Tamsin informed her, sitting on the bed at her feet. She began stroking her legs through the sheets. "What is it, Lauren?"

"Well, we've been married for a few years now..." Lauren nonchalantly commented, setting her book down. Tamsin's heart raced. She knew the discussion that would soon be up for debate.

"You know, I actually just remembered that I promised my sister I'd visit..." Tamsin remarked as she jumped up. "I guess she moved and wants help with her furniture. We'll talk about this later?"

Lauren nodded and pressed her lips together as she filed her hands across her lap and answered tightly, "Sure."

"Great," Tamsin went over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Love you, bye."

"Bye," Lauren replied, but the Valkyrie was already out the door. She sighed as she picked up her book and began reading once more.

What the Valkyrie hadn't noticed was the topic of the book that Lauren had purposely held up for her to see: Parenting.

•••

_Parenting_.

The word flashed in Tamsin's mind as she drove in the opposite direction of the apartment. Her heart raced and she couldn't think. She didn't want kids. Well, she hadn't even ever really considered the idea. But Lauren apparently had.

She'd seen the book. It struck her very core. But she wasn't about to acknowledge it, nor was she about to get into a heated discussion with the doctor. She hated herself for lying—she'd never in a million years offer to help her sister voluntarily—but even more so because her fib would only cover her for so long. She cringed.

Her cell phone broke her train of thought and she gladly answered it.

"_Hey, Tammy_..." Lauren cooed and the Valkyrie's heart stopped.

"Hi... Lauren..."

"How's your sister?"

"I'm not there yet," Tamsin told her. That wasn't a lie—she wasn't there.

"Well, I hate to put you in a precarious situation, but... What are you wearing?"

"Excuse me?"

"Because I'm still in bed..." Lauren hummed. "And I'm wearing _lace_... Too bad you didn't stick around."

Tamsin slammed on her brakes, burning rubber as she skidded along the road. She checked her rear view mirror and luckily, no one was behind her.

"Pull over," Lauren demanded. Tamsin could hear the smirk on her face. "I want your full participation in this."

Tamsin waited there in the middle of the road.

"So tell me... What are you wearing?" Lauren asked again. "Those _tight _black pants, right? The ones that hug your _cute little ass? _And your leather jacket over that t-shirt... Mm... That t-shirt. It's almost _transparent_... Take it off."

"Lauren, are you drunk?" Tamsin asked as she noticed just how fast her heart was beating.

"Far from it. I just really want you tonight... Come on. Take it off," Lauren urged. "I want to see you... _All_ of you."

"Lauren..." Tamsin remarked as if she were warning her.

"Yeah?"

"I'm coming," Tamsin sighed, caving at last and turning sharply once she'd begun driving again.

"Oh yes you will," Lauren chuckled as she hung up the phone.

The Valkyrie rushed home and practically flew up the stairs to find the doctor lying on the bed as promised, all decked out in lace.

"Holy Odin..." Tamsin breathed.

"You like what you see?" Lauren grinned.

"Do I..." Tamsin managed to say as she approached slowly. "Jesus, Lauren..."

"Come here," she whispered, smiling as Tamsin planted a kiss on her lips. "You know, I'll be honest. I kind of just wanted you home..."

"Mm?" Tamsin murmured as her lips moved to the doctor's jaw and then her neck.

"To talk..." Lauren tried to continue but found herself distracted as the Valkyrie shrugged her own jacket off before removing her shirt. "But um... Forget it."

"You're so hot..." Tamsin mumbled against the doctor's chest.

"Yeah?" Lauren smiled, pleased with herself.

"Mm," Tamsin responded as her mouth travelled lower. Lauren's back arched and she reached up and grabbed the sheets as her hips bucked.

"Oh, I'm so glad you came home..." Lauren breathily confessed before letting a soft moan escape her lips.

"Mm, so am I..." the Valkyrie mumbled into her thigh before she continued kissing her.

•••

Lauren lie awake, rubbing Tamsin's shoulder as she slept. The doctor concentrated on her respirations and concluded she was deeply asleep. She sighed contentedly and relaxed.

"You weren't going to help your sister, Tamsin, were you?" she chuckled. "You really are good at running."

The Valkyrie's eyes snapped open, knowing Lauren was about to unload as she always did whenever the Valkyrie appeared to be sleeping.

"But I've got you now in my little prison of love and I'm going to tell you what I want to. Mainly because you're far less intimidating this way," the doctor admitted as she stroked Tamsin's hair. "I want kids. I don't know if you've caught on yet. Actually, knowing you, you probably have."

The Valkyrie stirred. She couldn't just let Lauren spill everything while being under the impression that she was sleeping.

"In fact, that's probably why you bolted the other day—"

"I _know_," Tamsin sighed. The doctor's face showed surprise, but she soon recovered. "I _know_ you want kids."

"Well, what do you say to that?"

"I don't want kids, Lauren. I'm not the parenting type. I don't want them, I don't want them."

Lauren looked as if she'd been slapped and the Valkyrie instantly regretted conveying her opinion in the way she had.

"I'm sorry," Tamsin murmured as she got out of bed.

"Tamsin, we need to talk about this—"

"_No_, we _don't_."

"Tamsin—"

"Lauren," Tamsin shook her head. "_No_."

"Why?"

"I don't want kids," she reiterated. "I have you, that's all I really want right now."

"Does that mean you'd be willing to reconsider it at another time or—"

"_Lauren_..." the Valkyrie paused exasperatedly. "_Never_. I don't want them, okay? I can't handle them and I wouldn't even make a good parent if we did have them. I just don't want kids."

Lauren watched Tamsin consider saying more and wondered what else she could possibly have to say after that. After a moment, it seemed the Valkyrie decided to say it after all.

"Maybe if things were different."

"What do you mean 'if things were different'—" Lauren stopped and thought of what Tamsin could possibly mean and immediately felt she understood. "You mean if you were with a man... A more traditional arrangement?"

"No, that's not what I mean. That's not what I mean at all," Tamsin admitted through a sigh. She hadn't meant to let that remark slip.

"What else could you possibly mean?" Lauren thought some more. "Oh. You don't want kids with _me_ because... I'm _human_, right?"

No answer, but the guilty look on the Valkyrie's face was enough.

"Tamsin..."

"You got me. I don't want human kids," Tamsin admitted quietly. "But what I get for marrying a human though, right?"

"Tamsin, how could you be so shallow—"

"I'm not..." Tamsin denied. "I'm sorry I don't want human kids. _Ever_. I wouldn't want them if I was with you and I wouldn't want them if I was with a man. I just don't want human kids."

"Tamsin, do you really hate me that much?"

"I don't hate you—I_ love_ you. That's why I married you."

"You clearly hate this part of me. Because you don't want to pass it on."

"Lauren, we're done talking about this—" Tamsin shook her head and made her way toward the door.

"No we're not! I want to talk about this some more!" Lauren called after her. "Tamsin, you get back here! We are going to talk about this—"

"Leave it _alone_, Lauren!" Tamsin snapped. "I don't want kids. If you don't like that, then... You can leave."


	4. I Hate Everything About You

"I've been working on a serum... It curbs the need for warrior blood," Lauren explained to Thana. "That is, if you're interested in trying it. Essentially it replaces it... More of a substitute, really."

"I'll do it," Thana told her as she watched the doctor turn to get it. She tilted her head and observed her even closer. Lauren didn't seem like her usual upbeat self. "You okay, Doc?"

"Yup."

"Okay, that was complete and utter bullshit," Thana sighed. "So let's try this again: are you okay?"

"No, actually..." Lauren confessed. "But it's not really something I need to discuss."

"I understand—"

"No, you actually _don't_. You see, my life is just one big tease!" Lauren exclaimed, bursting as Thana had anticipated. The Keres raised her eyebrows, but listened attentively. "I discovered a whole new genus—but then that genus eventually_ captured_ and _enslaved_ me—"

"Ooh, that's rough—"

"And then I meet the love of my life. I loved her from the _second_ I saw her, real corny, I know, but I did. And something happened where she stopped loving me back—"

"Ouch—"

"And eventually, she loved me once again. It was all going uphill. We were in love and we still are. And now the love of my life doesn't want children."

"That's really—"

"What's worse is that it's because I'm human."

"Okay, that's just Fae-cist."

Lauren threw her a look.

"Sorry. And I hate to do this, but I agree. I mean, she'll have to go through outliving you—why would she want to do that multiple times with your kids afterward? Tamsin's a masochist, but she's no idiot. If it can be avoided then you know she will damn well avoid it."

"I'd never thought of it that way..." Lauren admitted. "I mean, I kind of had the feeling she didn't want them—I even tried bribing her, but she still said no."

"'_Bribing_ her?'"

"We..." Lauren trailed off before mentally saying, 'Fuck it' because she'd already spilled everything anyway at that point. "We had sex. We had hot, steamy, earth-shattering, passionate sex. Best sex of our time spent together, in my opinion. I don't know, maybe it was that she just looked so turned on... I'd never seen her so feral in my entire life. She was absolutely scalding... Or maybe it was because I surprised myself and accidentally, um... Turned myself on... In... The process... And didn't get the message across right when I wanted to... A-Anyway... But I mean, she didn't want to stop, I didn't want to stop—she never tasted so good..."

"Oh—okay, okay. That's enough detail," Thana waved her hands in front of herself defensively with an eye roll, though she was happy for them. "And you can't just whore yourself out with your wife to ask for kids. That's just... I feel like that's ironic. Here, fuck me and I will fuck you back—_graciously_—but oh by the way, I want kids. Like, really?"

"It wasn't an actual bribe... It was more... A hopeful approach to butter her up... You know before I asked," Lauren stated defensively. "And it worked too, until she realized what I did."

"Oh boy. You'd better apologize for that."

"But I don't know what to do. I love you her to death and back—_literally_. But she doesn't want kids and I really do."

"You're a doctor, Lauren. You know how to face so many challenges. Just think of this one as one of them."

"It's kind of something that can't just be bypassed."

"True..."

"I was doing something," Lauren remarked suddenly. "What was it?"

"The serum?"

"Oh! Right!" Lauren nodded as she went back to retrieving it.

"Well, Tamsin's a lucky woman. For having you. If I were her... _I'd_ change my mind," Thana offered. "And you wouldn't have to fuck me to do it."

Lauren paused, but showed no visible reaction other than that. Was Thana flirting? No... Not her. She wouldn't. No.

Lauren spun around and smiled innocently.

"That's very kind of you," she commented neutrally as she uncapped the syringe.

"I'd want one of each..." Thana continued, watching Lauren even despite the needle in her arm. If her profiling was correct, that's exactly what the doctor wanted as well.

"Me too, actually..." Lauren responded with a mixture of slight surprise and longing. She withdrew the needle once she finished.

"Do you know where Tamsin is right now?"

"Anywhere but home," Lauren admitted. "Why?"

"Wanna go for a drink?"

The doctor stared at the Keres, really questioning her intentions, but couldn't figure her out for a second. Just like Tamsin.

The parallels were ridiculous.

"I'm not so sure that's—"

"Oh, come on. We're friends, right?"

"_Thana_..."

"_Lauren_..." Thana echoed in the same tone. The doctor looked down and smiled. Thana was no Tamsin, nor was she a close friend, but she was charming to some degree. Just like Tamsin. Lauren could handle that.

"Fine. _One_ drink," Lauren told her sternly.

"Scout's honor."

•••

"She said _what_ now?" Thana asked incredulously.

"'If you don't like it then... You can leave,'" Lauren repeated with a shake of her head as she downed a shot.

"Oh, _Lauren_... It's _your_ apartment!" Thana told her disapprovingly. "Come on now... That should've been _your_ line."

"It _shouldn't_ have been _anyone's_ line."

"Okay, true, but it was a line and so it should've been _yours_."

"What do I do?"

"Give 'er an ultimatum too."

"You can't just fight fire with fire, Tamsin!" Lauren chuckled before catching her drunken mistake. Thana however, didn't seem to pay much mind. The doctor cleared her throat and forced herself to stand up, unsteadily, but she stood. "Well, that's my cue. I've had enough. I had fun, though."

"You really don't hold your liquor too well, Dr. Lewis," Thana told her with a grin as she rose to her feet. But that was no surprise to her. She knew from the moment Lauren accepted the invitation that the doctor was screwed. All a part of her plan for Lauren. Not that she'd really gotten _permission_, but... She was sure it'd be okay with her. At some point.

"Drive me home?" Lauren asked her, returning the smile and the Keres nodded as she took the keys from the doctor and they walked out together.

Neither of them noticed a pale-skinned woman with dark eyes and her arms crossed watching them from the corner. She cocked her head at the sight of them and closed her eyes, squinting them when they opened again.

•••

"Tamsin—" Lauren started.

"Where've you been?" Tamsin sprung up from the couch as the doctor stumbled in. The Valkyrie caught her just as she noticed the Keres that'd followed the doctor inside. "What the _hell_ are you doing here with her like this?"

"Why don't you ask Lauren?" Thana smirked. Tamsin clenched her jaw shut.

"If my arms weren't full of a stuporous doctor right now, I'd _slug_ you..." Tamsin threatened. Thana shrugged and continued with her smug grinning.

"Hey, you have a good night now, 'kay?" Thana called to Lauren, who nodded as the Keres turned to leave.

"Stay away from Lauren," Tamsin told her. "I _mean_ it."

"Can't do that... We got a doctor-patient relationship going on."

Tamsin hoisted Lauren up into her arms and walked over to Thana without a struggle as she stared her menacingly in the eyes.

"If I _ever_ see you near her again outside of the clinic... I'll_ kill_ you."

"Sure you will," Thana shrugged, completely unaffected. "Until then."

Tamsin kicked the door shut, but Thana stopped it with her hands.

"Learn to appreciate your shit, dumbass..." Thana hissed before yanking the door closed behind herself. Tamsin glared at the closed door and somehow managed to lock it before transporting the doctor over to the couch.

"Lauren..." Tamsin whispered as she knelt by the furniture.

"It was just a drink..." she murmured dreamily. "Just. One. Drink..."

"What, did you drink it from an Olympic swimming pool?" Tamsin remarked flatly. But her expression softened as she looked upon the doctor's face before she leaned over and kissed her on the nose. "I was worried about you, you know..."

"I thought you wanted me to leave," Lauren responded softly as she looked at the Valkyrie with glossy eyes.

"_Never_," Tamsin gently told her immediately, studying her face. "I love you."

"I love you too, Tamsin..." Lauren told her quietly as she sat up and gazed into the taller woman's eyes. Tamsin stared at her lips as they parted as if she were going to speak, but closed promptly after. Lauren moved closer to Tamsin and tenderly kissed her on the lips once.

"Goodnight," Tamsin whispered as she stood up.

"Sleep with me," Lauren remarked—more like a question than anything—and Tamsin chuckled.

"Is that a request or a demand?" she teased.

"_Tammy_..." Lauren whined. "I want you."

"I want you too," Tamsin confessed with amusement as the doctor reached for her. She knelt once again by her side. "All the time."

"Tammy, sleep with me."

"Babe, I don't think we're gonna fit on that couch..." Tamsin gently told her with a smile as the doctor managed to grab her hand and interlock their fingers.

"Then take me to bed," Lauren ordered and Tamsin lifted her up once again.

"Your wish is my command."

The Valkyrie carried the woman as instructed and placed her in their bed, kissing her on the forehead before completely releasing her.

"Come here," Lauren told her, rubbing the vacant part of the bed next to her. Tamsin lie down next to her and smiled. "Put your arm around me."

"Okay, Ms. Bossy."

"That's _Mrs_. Bossy," Lauren corrected with a lazy laugh as Tamsin did as she was told. "We're married, remember?"

"How could I forget?"

"Goodnight, Tamsin."

"Goodnight, Lauren."

•••

Lauren shot up as her alarm clock went off and groaned as she stretched over Tamsin to turn it off. What had happened last night was not how she'd planned for it to go; she'd wanted to distance herself from the Valkyrie—nothing drastic, but enough to get her point across.

"_Lauren_... It's too early..." Tamsin grumbled, folding the pillow around her head.

"Tamsin, I have to go to work..." Lauren reminded her softly as she reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear. Without warning, the Valkyrie sprung up from the bed and pinned the doctor underneath her.

"Oof—_Tamsin!_" Lauren exclaimed with surprise. She laughed and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Take the day off," Tamsin told her with a peck on the lips and Lauren rolled her eyes and smiled, despite her latent frustration with the taller woman.

"I really should—" Lauren's protests were muffled by Tamsin's lips.

"All I heard was that you should," Tamsin insisted. Her triumphant smile and her adoring eyes were too much. Lauren almost caved.

_Almost._

In a normal situation, she _would've. _In fact, Tamsin would've had her the moment she _told _her the take the day off. The moment she _kissed _her would've been the absolute clincher.

But this wasn't a normal situation; Lauren was somewhat mad at Tamsin.

"Tamsin, I need to get to work," Lauren adamantly told her as she gently forced the Valkyrie off her. Tamsin rolled her eyes and turned over onto her back.

"You're no fun."

"Work is no fun," Lauren replied as she gathered her things. "I'll see you when I get home."

Tamsin nodded and watched her leave, trying to ignore the nagging feeling that came upon the realization that Lauren had left without a kiss.


	5. Kryptonite

"I just gave you your injection a couple days ago," Lauren told the Keres, who'd recently poked her head in.

"Was it that long ago already? Hadn't noticed," Thana remarked. Lauren smiled to herself and shook her head.

"So you just happened to swing by five minutes before my break?"

"You have break in _five minutes_?" Thana asked, keeping her innocent tone from earlier. "Hadn't noticed."

"Nice try, but I see what you're doing," Lauren told her as she continued with her paperwork.

"Do you?" Thana inquired mysteriously.

"Yeah. I do," Lauren sighed as she turned in her chair to face the Keres.

"Oh. Good then. Saves me from having to invite you out to lunch—you already knew that was coming," Thana shrugged as she headed out, knowing Lauren would follow her. The doctor glanced at the clock.

Four minutes before she was officially on break.

She shrugged and grabbed her jacket before heading out after Thana.

"Jeez, you walk fast..." Thana commented as Lauren caught up to her.

"I have to," Lauren remarked, referring to her job and the Keres nodded with comprehension.

"Well if it's any consolation, I like the way you walk."

Lauren faltered for a moment, but pushed herself back to speed as they exited the building.

"Thank you," she awkwardly replied.

"So where to?"

"Um... Wherever," Lauren told her.

"Must I always choose?" Thana grinned at her and even managed to draw a smile out of the doctor.

"Um—my car is this way," Lauren told the Keres as she pointed in the opposite direction.

"How about we carpool for once? It'll save gas..."

"Yeah, for me..." Lauren pointed out.

"Well, you spend so much time at work... Why spend money too?" Thana asked as she opened her truck's door for Lauren. The doctor got in, but insisted closing it for herself. "What do you like?"

The doctor's head snapped up and she stared at Thana's bold question.

"_Music_, Dr. Lewis..." she smirked and it was then Lauren noticed that her hand had already been on the dial. "C'mon, I know you're not much of a talker. I have to fill the silence with something... And it might as well be something that you like."

"Uh... I usually just listen to whatever Tamsin listens to."

"Well, I don't know what Tamsin listens to these days. Besides you ought to pick something for yourself for once," she smiled. Lauren's eyebrows shot up, despite her attempt at masking her delighted surprise.

"Wow, um... I really don't know," she admitted. "I'll listen to anything... Well, except maybe classic rock or rap. But other than that, I'm easy to please."

"Good to know," Thana remarked mysteriously as she simply switched the radio on and began to drive. Despite her similarity to the Valkyrie, the Keres did not speed. If anything, she went the exact speed limit, which only surprised Lauren even more.

"Your driving is impeccable," Lauren commented with amusement after an abrupt silence.

"Isn't it?" Thana chuckled. "Normally, I'm at least twenty over. But I know that you hate speeding so... I decided to slow down a bit."

"Why, thank you. That was very considerate of you, Thana."

The Keres simply smiled her response.

"Can I ask you something?" Lauren asked suddenly.

"That depends... What is it?"

"Nothing," Lauren shook her head.

"That doesn't sound like nothing... If anything, it sounds like something."

"It's just... I really thought Tamsin and I would always want the same things..."

"You guys are day and night," Thana told her with a small laugh.

"I know... I know. But... We're still usually on the same page. It's hard to explain, but we usually know what the other is thinking."

"Ah."

"What do I do? She's so... adamant."

"'Be the change you wish to see in the world,'" Thana responded with a straight face, but her tight tone said otherwise. They looked at each other for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. "That was the _ultimate_ bullshit I've ever spewed in my life! Oh God, I'm sorry you were here for that and had to listen to it."

"It was worth a try," Lauren told her as she chuckled. Thana turned into the parking lot of the café they'd been frequenting. The Keres cut the engine and they got out of her truck before walking into the restaurant.

•••

Tamsin thumbed through Lauren's parenting book and sighed. She was in no way intending to budge on her stance, not even a little, but she wanted to see just what Lauren was reading.

It was all bullshit. White picket fence bullshit.

She placed the book down exactly as she'd found it; the angle and distance from the edge of the table perfect.

She looked at the clock and knew instantly that Lauren was on lunch break. Or rather, "break."

The woman didn't actually break. She always slaved over her work even when she ate, never sparing a moment even when the Valkyrie tried to stop by for her. Tamsin had eventually given up on that as it seemed to rattle Lauren rather than please her.

•••

"I had a dog when I grew up," Lauren nodded. "Fantastic guess."

"Well, you seem like a traditional girl."

"My turn... You..." Lauren trailed off and pursed her lips in thought. "Owned a cow? Maybe?"

"Ooh, close. A horse," Thana nodded.

"Ah, dammit. That _was_ close."

"Okay, so... Your favorite color is... Green? But not a typical green. Some obscure shade, right?"

"Wow, you've got me pegged. Sea foam."

"I was thinking olive, but that's believable too," Thana chuckled.

"You're hard to figure out," Lauren admitted. "You either like pink or blue, I'm thinking..."

"Interesting choices," Thana replied.

"Blue...?" Lauren guessed.

"Indigo. But I guess that's technically blue."

"Ha! I got one!" Lauren exclaimed, surprising the both of them.

"Yes, you did!" Thana chuckled. "You're good, Dr. Lewis."

"I'll have you know I'm very good at making educated guesses."

"Yeah?"

"Mm-hm. It's what I do," Lauren grinned triumphantly.

"That's true," Thana agreed. She watched Lauren's eyes drift to a wall clock and widen with surprise.

"Shoot! I'm ten minutes over," she hissed as she stood up quickly.

"Ten minutes over...?"

"My lunch break," Lauren told her. She dropped a twenty on the table and rushed out. Thana sighed with a smile and a shake of the head as she grabbed the doctor's jacket and headed out after her.

"I didn't get very far," Lauren admitted sheepishly as soon as Thana walked out the door and into her. "I forgot we carpooled."

"You forgot this too," Thana told her as she handed her jacket over.

"Thanks..." Lauren mumbled even more embarrassed than before as they got into the truck.

"Hey, I'll speed if you ask me to," Thana teased and Lauren nodded, signaling her go-ahead. Thana grinned devilishly before stepping on it and plastering Lauren to her seat for a second.

"Inertia at its finest."

"Bless you."

"No, _inertia_..." Lauren laughed, finding Thana's comment funnier than she should've. "An object at rest will stay at rest unless a force acts upon it—that's why we slam into our seats when you accelerate. We're 'staying in place' until the seat—and well, the rest of the car essentially—pushes us and takes us with it."

"They teach you that in med school?" Thana asked jokingly.

"No," Lauren responded. Thana looked over at her and the doctor saw her eyes sweep over her body.

"You gonna keep gripping that seat like you gotta take a shit?" she teased. Lauren looked down and sure enough, she was digging her nails into the seat. She released it immediately and clasped her hands in her lap.

"Sorry."

"You gonna keep your hands clasped like you're in a Catholic school?"

"Thana—"

"I'm just joking!" the Keres exclaimed.

"If my boss finds out I'm late..."

"I know, I know. We'll sneak you in. I promise."

"How're you going to do that? There's only one way in."

"I'll figure something out," Thana promised as she swerved into the parking lot. They ran from the truck together. "Come here."

Lauren stepped closer to her and before she could react, the Keres draped her arm around her neck, forcing her to look down.

"Just walk in like this, calm and collected. Got it?"

Lauren nodded and the plan went smoothly as they passed by other occupied rooms without being noticed. Lauren got to her desk and Thana made her way to the door, stopping only when the doctor spoke to her.

"Hey, um... Thank you for today," Lauren gratefully grinned.

"My pleasure," Thana smiled. "Oh and I owe you this."

She handed her some money and Lauren looked at her quizzically.

"You way overpaid today in your hurry," Thana explained as she moved toward the door again. Lauren nodded and waved as the Keres left.

•••

"What're you doing?" Scarlett asked the Keres as soon as she stepped out of the building.

"Are you following me?"

"No."

Thana looked at her with disbelief.

"I'm not. I have an appointment."

"Sure you do. A _Dark_ Fae like you... Has an appointment with the _Light _Fae doctor."

"It's under the table," Scarlett nudged her back toward the building. "March yourself right back in there and ask Lauren."

Thana rolled her eyes and sighed, "Okay. So what if I believe you? What's it to you?"

"What's it to me? It seems like you're trying to sabotage Tamsin and Lauren's relationship, that's what."

"And why do you care?"

"Because they are my muses."

"Excuse me?"

"I watch them when I can. Though, not typically as they stay in most of the time. But sometimes I'll see them around outside and I'll watch their expressions."

"You stalk them?"

"No, nothing like that. I just need to get my own expressions right. They just... seem to... fall flat."

"You're weird," Thana commented as she walked past Scarlett, but the pale woman caught up to her. "What now?"

"Why're you doing this?"

"I'm not doing anything."

"Oh, no?"

"No."

Scarlett paused and studied the Keres carefully before shrugging and appearing to change her mind about something.

"Alright then. You just keep doing what you're doing."

"I was already going to," Thana snidely responded as she went to her truck.

•••

Lauren rifled through the papers once more before deciding that it was time to go home. She'd stayed after her normal time to make up for her late lunch and felt she'd repaid it sufficiently.

She laid the papers on the desk and turned to leave, but came face to face with Scarlett and gasped sharply.

"Hello, _Dr. Lewis_..." Scarlett greeted her tonelessly with a nod.

"Scarlett. Hi," Lauren too nodded at her after recovering from her gasp of surprise and forced herself to relax.

"Your heart is racing..." Scarlett neutrally commented as her eyes moved to Lauren's chest. "Did I _scare_ you?"

"You startled me, yes..." Lauren admitted and paused as Scarlett tilted her head at the human. "What are you doing here?"

"Tamsin asked me to stop by and see if you were alright," Scarlett sighed, yet Lauren still didn't pick up on any emotion from her. Not that that was really expected.

"Well, that was very kind of her—you," Lauren stuttered. "But as you can see, I'm fine so it really wasn't necessary—"

"It was," Scarlett insisted as she stepped closer to the human.

"Scarlett, I don't wish to offend you..." Lauren started. "But I'd prefer it if you took a step back."

"I wanted to ask you a question."

"Well, you can ask it from a foot away," Lauren firmly informed her as she tried to ignore the few-inch gap between them.

"Can you fix me?" Scarlett asked, ignoring the doctor's request.

"_Fix_ you?"

"I want to feel again."

"I don't know the cause of your... impotence... in that... area," Lauren admitted.

"Of course you don't," Scarlett remarked.

"I-I could, of course, run a few tests maybe... That doesn't promise any useable results, but... I'd say it's worth a try."

Scarlett turned to leave and the doctor felt herself fully relax once she'd disappeared from sight. Lauren walked briskly to her car and got inside, locking the doors instantly before driving off. She watched the road unfold before her and checked all her mirrors and speedometer.

_Are you sure?_

She furrowed her brows, unsure of what she was questioning herself on.

_Are you sure?_

"Yeah?" she murmured to herself. "I am?"

_Are you? Are you really sure?_

"What is it?" Lauren asked herself. "What am I not sure about?"

_Anything_.

"What?"

_Just think, Lewis. Think._

Lauren checked her mirror once more as she began to follow the orders she'd given herself.

Tamsin. Was having Tamsin worth discarding her dream of having children? She'd wanted them for years.

Was Thana flirting with her? Why would she do that? She knew Lauren was Tamsin's. She knew Tamsin would kill her. Maybe even literally speaking.

Was Lauren at all attracted to Thana?

Lauren's latent thoughts poured into her head.

Thana seemed so... readily available. And perfect. She was Tamsin, but with the same morals and ambitions of Lauren.

The doctor glanced down at her speedometer and she'd sped up impossibly fast. She was traveling almost double the speed limit.

Or was she?

The outside didn't seem to be moving as fast as her speedometer said she was traveling. She stepped on the gas, but it didn't seem to work.

She stepped on it harder and suddenly lurched to an abrupt stop. She looked around and saw that no one was around for miles. She sighed and drove slowly to the side of the road before parking and calling for help.

Only about twenty minutes later did she see a familiar truck plodding down the road toward her.

"Oh, thank _God_ you're here..." Lauren sighed as the lighter blonde got out of the truck.

"Lauren, what happened?"

"I don't know... I think I'm just too tired to drive," Lauren grumbled. "But thank you for coming on such short notice, Thana."

"No problemo," Thana told her. "I'm no tow truck, but it'll get the job done."

While Thana prepared her truck to pull the doctor's car, Lauren went into the truck, reclined her seat and closed her eyes.

"You ought to take it easy, Doc..." Thana commented as she got in. She started the engine and began driving carefully.

"I know..." Lauren softly responded.

"Why didn't you call Tamsin?" Thana inquired cautiously and Lauren looked over at her with tired eyes.

"She'd worry," Lauren whispered. "At least with you... She'd never have to know anything happened."

"So no telling Tamsin," Thana realized aloud and Lauren nodded. "Got it. You just rest."

•••

Tamsin paced as she stared at the clock. Lauren was late. Again. That kind had become the norm, but the Valkyrie assumed she was just overworking herself.

Lauren was at least an hour when she came walking through the door and Tamsin's head snapped up as she rushed over to her.

"Laur, what happened?"

"Nothing..."

"I hardly believe nothing happened. You're home an hour late—"

"Am I?" Lauren turned to look at the clock. "Oh. Look at that. I am."

"What gives?"

"I lost track of time at work. I'm sorry I made you worry," Lauren apologized, giving Tamsin a kiss on the cheek. The Valkyrie took a step back.

"You smell different," she remarked, but Lauren shrugged it off.

"I'm a doctor. I'm bound to smell oddly every day."

"I didn't say odd. Just... _different_."

"What are you saying, Tamsin?" Lauren asked with a defensive edge to her tone.

"Nothing," Tamsin replied honestly as she took the doctor's things from her hands. Lauren hadn't put them down or even away as per her usual routine. The Valkyrie stared at her for a few seconds before taking the initiative herself.

"I'm just really tired," Lauren sighed as she went upstairs.

"So rest then," Tamsin suggested as she watched the woman's lead feet march their way upstairs. She heard them pause for a moment before continuing on their way.

She sighed and followed them only minutes after and found Lauren covered up to her neck with sheets and lying on her side.

"You look cozy," Tamsin commented with a small smile at the adorable sight.

"I am," Lauren told her. "But I'd be cozier if you were in here with me."

Tamsin smirked and got into bed with her, kissing the doctor's shoulder.

"I'm here now."

•••

Weeks went by and 'I'm here now,' became a distant memory as Lauren avidly went to work every day, leaving Tamsin to do, well, whatever it was that she did when the doctor was out.

Lauren was still despondent about Tamsin's choice and some days felt worse than others. Those were the days they fought or just plain steered clear of one another.

But this morning was different as Tamsin wasn't in bed even when Lauren's early set alarm went off. In fact, her side was perfectly made. Lauren woke up confused and disoriented as she looked around cluelessly.

How had she not woken up when the Valkyrie had? She was usually such a light sleeper—or so she'd thought. She bolted around the house—looking closets, dressers, and anywhere else Tamsin's things would be stored, making sure they were still there.

Surprisingly, all things stayed in place. The doctor had gotten herself worked up in thinking that the Valkyrie had simply left. Sure, it left her with concerned curiosity, but she had no time for that. She'd wasted precious time for getting ready by looking for Tamsin. She made her way downstairs and noticed a note on the counter.

She slapped herself. Of course Tamsin left a note. They always left each other notes—well, they used to. She should've thought of that first.

_**At work.**_

The doctor squinted at the note. Tamsin didn't have a job. Unless she counted being an occasional mercenary-bounty-hunter type. Had she been assigned to a new detail? Probably. Tamsin didn't often talk about work with Lauren. Or really ever.

The doctor wrote "Okay" in response in case the Valkyrie beat her home before getting ready for work.

•••

The doctor walked in to find Tamsin sitting in her chair with the biggest smirk on her face. At first, her reaction was to chuckle and shake her head at the Valkyrie. That is, until she realized where she was.

"Tamsin, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be here," Lauren told her as she rushed over to her. "This is Light territory."

"So are you, but you don't see me staying out of you," Tamsin smirked before covering her mouth and feigning surprise. "Oop—did I just say that out loud?"

"Tamsin!" Lauren hissed as she tried to yank the Valkyrie from her chair. "This isn't funny."

"Oh, but it is. Did you not see the note? 'At work.' I purposely didn't include a possessive adjective—hey, aren't you impressed I know what that is?" Tamsin asked with sheer amusement.

"Are you okay?"

"Sure," Tamsin insisted. "I'm here to make sure you don't work yourself too hard."

"Tamsin, you need to go."

"You won't even know I'm here," Tamsin told her as she looked toward the doorway. Lauren turned to look, but nothing was there. The doctor realized then that the Valkyrie had done it about three times since she walked in.

"Okay, who are you looking for?"

Tamsin brought her eyes back to Lauren and shrugged innocently as she answered, "No one."

"Then why're you here?"

"I already told you. I'm here to make sure you—"

"Tamsin, we both know that's not true."

"Actually, only one of us knows that for sure," Tamsin replied soberly. She stood up, keeping her eye contact and approached Lauren slowly. The doctor felt as if the Valkyrie was staring deep into her soul. It was both terrifying and captivating at the same time and she allowed herself to be on display for her. "So what's first on today's agenda?"

The taller woman's voice was low and soothing; the doctor lost herself in it. She could hear nothing else and could see nothing else but the Valkyrie standing before her. She even wandered into wondering if this was what death felt like; everything was so tranquil. Even her typically racing mind had quieted itself—it almost felt as if there were a massager going in it; a soft buzzing in the back of her mind, not annoying, but lulling.

"Where've you been?" Tamsin asked her softly, her eyes boring into Lauren. The doctor began to back up as the valkyrie's face morphed into something resembling a face-skull hybrid, yet she was unafraid as she stared back.

"What do you mean?" Lauren asked shakily.

"I'm only here to help... You can trust me," Tamsin quietly insisted as she advanced.

"I-I... The café... Down the..." Lauren trailed off, losing her thought with surprising ease.

"Do you love me?" Tamsin inquired quickening her steps. She was going to lose Lauren any second now and she'd need to catch her.

"I-I... I don't know," Lauren murmured before her knees buckled as she went unconscious in Tamsin's arms. The Valkyrie cracked her neck before draping the doctor in her desk chair and staring at her.

Lauren's response was expected, of course, because Tamsin was known to cause doubt in her victims. But jammed signals or not, the answer hurt a little more than she thought it would, even with the mental preparation she made with herself.

The poor human doctor would be out for a good hour or so, depending on how much her poor brain could take. And she'd wake up with a headache worse than a hangover and a migraine combined.

"Sorry, Lauren..." Tamsin whispered before planting a soft kiss on her lips. "I just had to know..."

The Valkyrie walked out without a hitch and drove to an alleyway in the city and waited. After a few minutes of sitting, someone tapped on her truck's window.

Thana.

The Valkyrie rolled her window open and Thana took the opportunity to unlock the truck and get in without invitation.

"Is personal space not a thing in Hell?"

"This isn't Hell," Thana replied. Tamsin shut up and crossed her arms.

"I was waiting on somebody else."

"Isn't that always how it is?" Thana responded with a small sigh. "I wouldn't have bothered you if I didn't have to."

The Valkyrie rolled her eyes.

"I think Scarlett is up to something."

"Isn't she always? I'm surprised no one's put a hit on her yet," Tamsin huffed.

"I'm serious. She was screwing with your human doctor the other night."

"The hell are you talking about?"

"Lauren came home late the other day because she almost fucking _veered off the road,"_ Thana explained, forcing the Valkyrie to look her in the eyes. "And that was only _after_ she was going double the speed limit. Her mind was in the clouds, Tamsin. And I know you'd never pull that doubt shit on her. So it has to be Scarlett. BEKs have that ability, you know. Granted, it's not as strong as yours, but they still have it."

"Why do you know this?"

"I was driving home from the Dal. I happened to see Lauren pulled over," Thana falsely explained. "She looked completely discombobulated."

"Why didn't you call me?"

"I didn't know if you were at home and I don't have your cell. Relax, jealous jimmy."

"Don't call me that," Tamsin grouched.

"Look, the real concern here is not where Lauren's loyalty lies. We both know where that is anyway. The real threat is Scarlett's slippery scheming. I saw her fleeing into the woods. She thought he had the cover of the night, but I swear I saw her."

"Slow down," Tamsin responded. "What would she have against Lauren?"

"That's what I was wondering—the doctor's like the _sweetest_ person ever."

Tamsin threw her a warning look.

"So that's why I came to you. I thought you might know something."

"I don't know any more than you do."

"Does it have anything to do with the fact that she is a _psychopath_?"

"I don't know. I've ignored her most of my life," Tamsin admitted, suddenly feeling a little bad about it. A sudden thump on the roof of the truck caused the two women to flinch and stare at the ceiling as the source leapt to the hood of the truck and stared into the truck with amusement. Tamsin let out a sharp exhale of frustration. "Jezebel, get the _fuck_ off my truck!"

She grinned cruelly and moved her eyes into the Keres in the passenger seat.

"It seems that someone stole my seat," she commented snidely as she jumped off the hood and yanked the passenger door open. "Get out, bitch."

"Leave her alone," Tamsin groaned, surprising herself with her defense of the Keres. Jezebel raised her eyebrows at this too and Tamsin rolled her eyes before looking at Thana. "In the back. Now."

Thana nodded and climbed awkwardly to the back of the truck and Jezebel took her place next to Tamsin.

"So. You're hanging with bloodsuckers now, hm?" Jezebel commented before facing ahead and ordering Tamsin to, "_Drive_."

"You guys sisters or some—" Thana stopped as she caught a glimpse of Jezebel's eyes in the mirror. She felt a pang of something in her chest and shut up immediately as Tamsin pulled out of the alley.

"Did you kill your mark?"

"Killing's not part of the policy. Besides. I heard it was nulled."

"That's not what they're saying now."

"And what are they saying?"

"They're saying she's a threat and they want her gone."

"I told them I don't kill people anymore," Tamsin complained.

"Well, you're not the boss," Jezebel needlessly reminded her. "And if you don't do it, I will. They'll execute you for sure this time."

"Isn't that your plan anyway? Become number one Valkyrie? You could never surpass me—in _any_ lifetime. Isn't that _pathetic_?" Tamsin asked, twisting the knife.

"You know what? _Fuck_ you. I came to give you a warning."

"Sure you did. Or maybe you wanted to snoop."

"So what if I did? You hiding anything? You know, underneath all the illegal shit you've been up to these days?" Jezebel shot back as she eyed the Keres in the backseat. "Can't believe you've communed with one of those."

"Okay, we did not _commune_. Let's get that straight," Tamsin corrected her.

"Just get your shit done and move on. What's with you anyway? Don't tell me you're getting feelings now... This is your last life. Don't blow it."

"You're right. It's my last life. And you're _ruining_ it," Tamsin told her coolly.

"I could say the same about you."

"Hey, how about we tone down the hostility?" Thana suggested innocently. "It's getting a bit heated in here."

"Shut up," the Valkyries snapped in unison, though Tamsin's voice didn't even contain nearly half the amount of venom as Jezebel's did.

"I'd get out, but this's a two-door truck," Thana grumbled as she crossed her arms.

"I can arrange for another way out," Jezebel taunted.

"Alright, that's enough. Get out," Tamsin ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!" Jezebel saluted sarcastically and opened the door with the truck still in motion.

"_What-the-fuck-are-you-doing?_" Thana asked shrilly and Jezebel cackled.

"Havin' some fun, bloodsucker."

"C'mon, J, you're gonna get us into an accident..." Tamsin tried and her fellow Valkyrie only laughed harder.

"You worried 'bout dyin', Tam-Tam?" she asked as she stuck a leg out.

"No—"

"Oh! I know! You're worried about killing innocent, mere _humans,_ right?" Jezebel chuckled. "Even _more_ pathetic."

"That's it," Tamsin snapped as she shoved the Valkyrie out and swerved so Jezebel wouldn't affect the traffic behind her. Thana turned and watched the ejected Valkyrie sprout wings to catch herself and flew off without a scratch.

"So back to Scarlett and Lauren—"

"There's nothing to say. The pasty bitch is a coward, she won't do shit. And Lauren, well... She can handle herself. She's on Light territory all the time. Scarlett wouldn't bother her."

"So why was she at the clinic at the other day?"

"Seriously, why do you know all this?" Tamsin demanded to know once again.

"I was there."

"I thought I told you to stay away from her," Tamsin growled.

"Outside of the clinic," Thana reminded her coyly. "I said I was at the clinic."

Tamsin sighed with defeat and continued driving.

"Look, I was trying to be a decent person and give you a warning—"

"Thanks for that," Tamsin replied stiffly.

"What'd I do?" Thana asked. "You were starting to warm up to me..."

"Oh, was I? My mistake," Tamsin sharply answered.

"Tams—"

"Jezebel's right. You're a bloodsucker. Get out of my truck," Tamsin snapped.

"I-I'm working on that," Thana protested and Tamsin swerved to the side of the road before slamming on her brakes.

"I want you out."

"We used to be _friends,_ Tamsin!" Thana shouted as she pushed the passenger seat forward and jumped out. The Valkyrie rolled her eyes before speeding away and leaving the Keres in the dust.


	6. Forget You

Lauren jolted awake and instantly stood up out of pure shock and agony upon an excruciating pain registering in her head. She groaned and looked around before finding her vision blurred and she felt confused and disoriented as she stumbled around.

Where the hell was she and why did her head hurt so terribly?

She dropped back into her seat, letting the searing pain overtake her as she struggled to focus her eyes on something—anything.

When the dizziness finally passed, she discovered that she was at work and when she looked to the clock, she still had hours of work to go. She wasn't going to be able to make it that long. She felt sick to her stomach, but nothing came up when she happened to gag once—seriously? What the hell happened?

She tried standing once again, steadying herself on her chair and she limped over to her boss' room, trying her best to look both miserable and coherent at the same time—the latter being a true struggle for her.

"C-Can I t-take the rest of the day?" she stuttered. Her words sounded slurred and she felt embarrassed as the man gawked at her.

"You haven't missed a day in a few years," he commented with a negating tone. "But if that's what you absolutely need... Fine."

Lauren managed a thank you as she went outside, breathing the fresh air deeply in hopes of clearing her foggy mind, still puzzled at her uncomfortable mental state.

She wondered if she should even drive, but her vision was technically back to normal as she sank into her car's seat. She sat there for a few minutes, trying to remember anything prior to her apparent blackout.

Nothing.

She shook her head and blinked rapidly as she started her car and began her drive home.

_Are you sure?_

"Oh no... Not this again," the doctor groaned frustratedly as the question seemed to only make her headache worse—a feat she didn't think was even possible.

_Are you sure?_

"Just shut up!" Lauren snapped at the thought. She went against her own morals and judgement as she sped up, over the speed limit just to get home quicker.

_Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure?_

The doctor slammed on her brakes, hitting her head in the process, but the voice no longer spoke to her.

"Happy now?" she angrily asked it. No response. She nodded once and began to drive again.

When she finally made it home, she practically pulled herself upstairs and opened the door to find Tamsin with dinner set out and everything. And it wasn't burnt.

"Lauren! Hey! I did something!" Tamsin exclaimed upon her arrival. The doctor massaged her temples as the noise spike increased her migraine. The Valkyrie then remembered what she'd done and dropped her volume. "Sorry. You have a headache or something?"

"_Major_," Lauren nodded as she walked slowly over to the counter and sat down.

"Ooh... Sorry to hear that," Tamsin told her sincerely.

"Hey—how'd you know I was coming home right now?" Lauren asked.

Uh-oh. Her cognitive processes were clearly still intact and fully functioning despite everything. Tamsin chuckled nervously.

"Did you know I wasn't feeling well?" Lauren inquired suspiciously as she leaned toward the Valkyrie, expecting an answer. "How?"

"Wow, you really are sick," Tamsin commented. "You're showing signs of paranoia right now. I'd say a fever, but..."

The taller woman leaned over the counter and kissed the doctor on the forehead.

"You don't feel hot. Temperature-speaking only, of course. You're always hot to me."

"I need to lie down," Lauren mumbled as she went over to the couch. No way would she make it upstairs. The moment she put her head down and closed her eyes, she was out.

_The doctor heard a noise behind her and spun around in her office chair to find a literal skeleton staring at her._

_"Lauren..." it rasped. "I am waiting for you."_

_"W-What?"_

_"Lauren..."_

_Upon closer attention, its voice sounded like a distorted variation of someone she knew._

_"Lauren..."_

_Tamsin._

_"Lauren..."_

_"What do you want?" she asked, suddenly feeling fearful as it extended a single, bony finger to lift her chin._

_"You. It's always been you," it paused, coughing slightly. "I am waiting for you."_

_"Yeah, you said that."_

_"Aren't you coming?" it asked her._

_"I-I don't know where we're going..."_

_"Hell..."_

_"Hell? Why?"_

_"Aren't you coming?"_

_"No..."_

_"Why not? It's all in good fun, Lauren... I promise you... We'll have a hell of a time!" it cackled, the laughter turning into a hacking cough once again. "Aren't you coming, Lauren?"_

_"I already said no—"_

_"But you will," the skeleton replied with a smile. "Sooner or later."_

"Lauren!" Tamsin called as she shook the doctor awake. "You were crying out in your sleep. Is everything okay?"

"No," Lauren promptly answered, her mouth feeling impossibly dry. She pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"Look... I—"

"I can't really talk right now..." she swallowed as a feeling of impending doom swelled in her chest.

"Lauren, everything is going to be okay," Tamsin told her.

"Tamsin, I'm freaking out. I keep getting this feeling that I'm going to die," Lauren told her.

_I'm gonna kill that bitch_... the Valkyrie seethed.

"That's not gonna happen," Tamsin told the doctor as her own voice cracked. "I won't let it."

"How do you know?"

"I don't," Tamsin admitted. "But I will do everything I can."

"Hold me," Lauren softly asked of her. Tamsin nodded and sat next to her as she wrapped her arms around her.

•••

"Tamsin could always have your children. Then they'd be Fae—you know, assuming you use Fae sperm. Just a suggestion," Thana told Lauren as sat in the cafe. She sipped her coffee.

"But the thing is, she doesn't want kids, period. Fae or not, from what it seems. So there's no way she'd agree to that," Lauren responded.

It'd been a few days since that mysterious, miserable migraine and she'd eventually returned back to work. In fact, she came back the very next day as the ache seemed to dissipate almost instantly after a little over a couple hours. It was remarkable.

And now she sat with the Keres in a café. She really should be at home with Tamsin at the dinner table—or rather, counter—but she figured a cup of coffee wouldn't hurt.

"Oh yeah..." Thana scratched her head. "Talk to her maybe?"

"Well, she needs to be around to talk to. Anytime I try to approach her, she's got somewhere else to be," Lauren replied as she brought her own mug up to her mouth. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure," Thana nodded. "What'll it be?"

"Tamsin mentioned that she saw you by Hades' throne."

"Oh, here we go..." Thana sighed. "She said that and now you don't trust me, right?"

"No... I'm just... I'm fascinated."

"We had a new veteran and Hades likes to be notified."

"Right, but have you ever run into a Valkyrie before Tamsin? She'd never run into a Keres. Is it weird?"

"It's odd because they set off your little 'They're one of us' pingers, but you know they're not really. Valkyries seem to be more righteous in some ways... Definitely more concerned about honor and reputation. We're viewed as disgusting."

"Oh..."

"Tamsin is... all I want to be."

"So you admire her too."

"Kind of... She doesn't remember me, Lauren, I know she doesn't."

The doctor cocked her head, not comprehending the Keres distraught visage.

"And I don't know why... She regains her memories of everything else. Anytime she's reborn, she gets the memories back. All of them. All of them except of me."

"Thana, I'm not understanding..."

"We met before. In her very first lifetime," Thana explained, clearly nostalgic.

"Well, that was a long time ago, I'm sure... Some memory has to be lost, right?" Lauren tried, but Thana shook her head.

"She remembers everything, Lauren. Everything. She could tell you her first and last meal of each lifetime without hesitation."

"How'd you meet?" Lauren asked.

"We ran into each other in the town square. We became fast friends... We were like, seven and we were the most damned little rascals. We'd piss in the annoying boys' water buckets. But she doesn't remember that. If anything, she has blatant disdain for me."

"Why wouldn't she remember you?"

"That's what I'm asking. Why?"

"I could try looking into her brain chemistry if that's what you're asking. But I'd need her permission..."

"I wasn't asking you to do that," Thana admitted. "But put in a good word for me."

"I will."

"You're sweet," Thana told her with a smile.

"Well, I should probably get home..." Lauren chuckled as she stood up, checking the clock on the wall. "Tamsin will worry."

"Oh, sure. See you later?"

"Mm," Lauren nodded as she grabbed her coat and set down some money. Thana watched the doctor leave and finished her coffee herself.

•••

"The hell do you want?" Tamsin asked, upon opening the door to reveal Scarlett on the other side. The pale woman smiled thinly, a polite gesture given that she never had any affect.

"May I come in?"

"I wouldn't exactly feel comfortable with that..." Tamsin told her as she eyed the woman. From what she'd heard from Thana—not that she was the most reliable source—she'd stopped trusting the woman standing before her. Not that she really ever trusted her. Well, maybe a little. Very scarcely.

"Understood," Scarlett replied in a monotone. "Everyone says that."

"Get to the point."

"Perhaps you should sit."

"I'll stand."

"I don't know what you're doing wrong—"

"Excuse me?"

"—but whatever it is, it must be bad."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Mm... Rumor among the Fae has it that you're not the only tall, _sexy _blonde in Dr. Lewis' life."

"What're you getting at?"

"Lauren's seeing someone. I saw it with my own two eyes."

"Who?"

"You might not want to know—" Scarlett smiled smugly as Tamsin grabbed her by the collar and pulled her dangerously close.

"Scarlett..."

"It's not my business to tell," she whispered as she squinted her black eyes at the Valkyrie. "You wanna know? You ask Lauren yourself."

The paler woman shoved the Valkyrie off her and brushed herself off.

"Can't say I don't blame her. The woman is you and _more_..." Scarlett sneered.

"Why're telling me this?"

"Tamsin, Tamsin, Tamsin... I love emotion. I lack emotion, but I love it. Just seeing it... gives me chills and a high nothing could ever replicate."

"I'm usually a statue. What could you possibly have with me?"

"You are the most sentiently sensitive person I've ever met," Scarlett responded. "You just think you're stoic. Good day to you, Valkyrie."

The woman floated off, leaving a distressed Tamsin behind in the doorway. Thana and Scarlett seemed to be pitting each other against, well, each other. She glanced at the clock and read it. Lauren was already fifteen minutes late to coming home. The Valkyrie thought and realized she'd been coming home late—varying minutes of lateness, but still late—almost everyday for the past several weeks.

Tamsin felt sick.

She knew Lauren's schedule like the back of her hand, yet it never worried her when it began to veer off course? Was she _stupid? _Was she just so far removed that she figured Lauren had work to do?

No, Lauren was an honest, loyal woman. Of _course_ she had work to do.

But then again, she never talked about it. Hell, she barely ever spoke to Tamsin lately.

Maybe she was too tired to talk. Tamsin could understand—she'd been there herself a few times.

But Lauren always made efforts to talk.

The thoughts swirling in Tamsin's mind made her dizzy and she closed the door weakly, numbly, barely even blinking.

_The woman is you and more... _Scarlett's words echoed in the Valkyrie's head.

_Thana._

She felt herself heat up with fury and a sense of betrayal.

_Lauren..._

But she unclenched her fists and forced herself to relax and breathe slowly. She'd simply ask Lauren when she got home.

Whenever that was.

And Lauren wouldn't lie because that's not who she was as a person.

As far as she knew.

And then when she found out Lauren wasn't cheating...

Or _was_...

Then they'd work things out.

Or not.

Whatever.

Tamsin collapsed onto the couch and studied the ceiling, processing all that she'd learned. She couldn't really be mad—everyone was innocent until proven guilty, right? But why did she have a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach? Did she really not trust the doctor? She didn't know.

And that scared her.

She awoke to a combination of the jiggling doorknob and pounding on the door, surprised that she'd fallen asleep without staying up to see if Lauren got home alright.

"Tamsin? I'm locked out," Lauren called through the door. The Valkyrie glanced at the clock.

Lauren Lewis was a good three hours late.

She considered not opening the door, but forced herself up with a sigh and unlocked the door.

"It's open," she called back as she returned to the couch. Lauren opened the door and greeted the Valkyrie with a smile.

"Hey, you..." she exclaimed. No reply. She ignored the slight feeling of rejection as she closed the door and went over to Tamsin. "So I picked up dinner for us—"

"Where?" Tamsin promptly asked. Lauren's face almost seemed to droop—the Valkyrie could swear it.

"Um... The little café down the street?" Lauren replied. Tamsin nodded once and began mentally calculating everything. It took about a half hour from Lauren's workplace to get to the café she was referring to, twenty minutes to wait to place and order and pick it up, and five minutes to drive home. A whole fifty-five minutes accounted for. Out of one hundred and eighty. That wasn't even half. Hell, it wasn't even one third. Tamsin sighed.

"I already ate," she lied.

"O-Oh..." Lauren nodded slowly, clearly disappointed.

"Yeah, but don't let that stop you from getting your own nourishment."

"Is, uh... Is everything okay?" Lauren asked. "With you?"

"Just peachy."

"How about with us?" Lauren pressed. "Is everything okay with us?"

"Funny _you_ should ask that," Tamsin huffed with a pout as she crossed her arms. Lauren wet her lips.

"You know what? Sorry I asked," Lauren responded with frustration as she put her hands up in surrender. "I'm just going to go eat my dinner. Alone. You know, if that doesn't _offend_ anybody—"

"It doesn't."

"Fine."

"_Fine," _Tamsin replied. "You that."

"I will," Lauren retorted as she went over to the dimly lit kitchen.

"I'm going to bed," Tamsin told her darkly as she went over to the stairs. "Don't stay up too late."

"Trust me, I won't."

The Valkyrie whirled around and asked, "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Tamsin, I'm just tired. Okay? I just got home from a long day... I just want to eat my food and relax. Is that so much to ask?" Lauren asked with fatigue.

"Maybe you shouldn't work so hard," Tamsin shot back bitterly as she stomped up the stairs. She heard the doctor sigh.

She was so not treating Lauren like an innocent. Besides, Scarlett was deluded at times. The Valkyrie felt guilty suddenly and she padded back down the stairs and found Lauren hunched over her food and upon a closer view, she was sniffling.

"Lauren, I'm sorry..." Tamsin apologized as she sat down next to her. She even leaned in for a kiss, but the doctor leaned away.

"I don't want to kiss you right now," she told her softly as she played with her food. Tamsin reached for her instead and the doctor jerked away. "Don't touch me."

"I'm sorry..."

"I am too," Lauren retorted bitterly.

"I'm gonna leave you alone," Tamsin offered. "I'll be upstairs... So, um... You know. If, for whatever reason, you want me... Um... Just holler."

"Sure," Lauren nodded and allowed the Valkyrie to leave.

The doctor never came upstairs that night. And when Tamsin descended the stairs, she found Lauren on the couch. She brought her a pillow and blanket afterward before returning back to their bed for good.

•••

"Lauren, your alarm went off..." Tamsin awoke the doctor gently and cautiously.

"I'm calling in..." she groaned into her pillow and waved the Valkyrie away.

"You sure?"

"Never been so sure of something in my life," she grumbled, her voice muffled and her face buried.

"Alright. I'll go turn it off then—"

"No, no. I gotta go upstairs..." Lauren told her groggily as she finally sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "And get dressed and stuff..."

"What?" Tamsin squinted. "Are you going somewhere or something?"

"Yeah..." Lauren sighed as she rose up slowly and trudged over to the stairs. "There are um... Leftovers in the fridge. Feel free to eat them."

"Well... Where are you going?"

"Out, Tamsin. I actually have a life," Lauren told her flatly as she went upstairs. The Valkyrie slouched and sat there like that even after Lauren had left.

There was only one thing to do.

Tamsin followed the doctor from a distance, which in any other circumstance would be a crazy thing to do. But the Valkyrie felt this was justified and she tailed the doctor to an apartment complex. Only moments after did Thana appear and she got into Lauren's car with her.

Tamsin boiled, but never revealed herself.

To sum it up, the two of them had spent the entire day together and meanwhile, Tamsin spent the entire day being furious and confused and heartbroken. Once they'd settled into some restaurant, the Valkyrie hightailed it out of there and raced home.

Imagine that. The doctor had taken a day off for some scumbag Keres. A supposed patient, yet her own wife wasn't worth the time. Tamsin seethed for hours, never really focusing on anything else. She just couldn't.

Was this all because she didn't want kids? Was Lauren punishing her? Leaving her? Both? Maybe she should have that talk with Lauren again. Maybe. But why couldn't the doctor just take no for an answer?

The Valkyrie opened a book, a desperate attempt to distract herself, but did nothing but create a front.

"Tamsin, I'm home—" Lauren started, interrupting Tamsin's thoughts.

"_Late_," Tamsin sharply greeted her, never lifting her eyes from a book. "As usual."

Lauren looked at the floor, guilty as charged, before she closed the door softly and walked over to the Valkyrie, sitting next to her on the couch.

"Sorry," she remarked tonelessly. No response. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Tamsin remarked as she clapped the book shut and Lauren almost wondered by her tone if it was really such a task to ask of her. "You wanna talk? Go ahead. _Talk_."

"I love you to death, Tamsin. I really do," Lauren told her. "And... Well, I wish I could say that I love you enough to sacrifice my wishes to keep you. But I don't know if I can do that."

Tamsin stared at Lauren silently, unreadable to the broken-hearted human doctor.

"And maybe... It was stupid of us to rush into this whole... situation. And by situation, I mean living together and marriage and... all that stuff. I mean, we did this in a span of maybe a year? Or a little over?" the doctor paused. "We should've talked about things first. And I'm sorry that we didn't. I can't help but feel... that this is my fault. I... I rushed you into... well, everything. I asked you to move in the day I met you. I'm sorry for that. I put you in an awkward situation and you clearly felt the need to patronize me—"

"Okay, hold up," Tamsin cut her off as she held up a hand. "I am _not_ patronizing you. Let's get that straight."

"Then why would you stay with me, knowing that I am human?"

"What you are doesn't matter to me—"

"It obviously does," Lauren snapped more sharply than she'd meant to. She softened. "I'm sorry for snapping at you like that."

"Lauren... Do you realize what kids would do to us?" Tamsin asked her. "They drive a wedge between the parents, in my opinion."

"Tamsin—"

"Let me talk. A _wedge. _That's the first thing," Tamsin continued. "A wedge that shortens our already too-short time together. Another thing is that we're not even supposed to be together, Lauren. Remember? Dark vs. Light? Does that even _mean _anything to you? And if we were to have kids... What the hell would that mean? For us? For them? What happens if we're discovered? You want the innocent children to die because of _our_ wrongdoings? Is that really a fair thing to ask of them?"

"_Tamsin_..."

"Still talking," Tamsin reminded her. "And secondly... When I lose them, I will lose every last trace of your existence. When you die, you're gone. But you live on through your kids. Your son—he has your eyes and your daughter—she has your smile. And when they die before me, and I know they will because that's just how the world works, you'll be gone, Lauren. For good. And I'll have lost you_ three times_ in_ one _of my godforsaken life times."

The doctor was silent.

"I can't do that..." the teary-eyed Valkyrie whispered. "Lose you three times. I can't even bare _thinking_ about losing you once."

A single silent, tear fell from the anguished taller woman's eyes as she swallowed the lump in her throat. She dried her eyes and dared to look at Lauren's face.

"Please... Don't do that to me, Lauren. I love you too much."

"So you _have_ thought about it," Lauren quietly remarked. There was no way the Valkyrie had come up with all those cons on the spot. Tamsin really had considered it.

Possibly even before she had.

"So... I hear Thana wants a boy and girl," Tamsin wet her lips and dried her eyes, finally confronting the doctor about what was bothering her. "You?"

"_Tamsin_..." Lauren's face fell at the insinuation. "No... It's not like that."

"Then what is it? She's always at the clinic. You're always out. You come home late... I mean, she's me. Me, but in a universe where I want kids. She's everything you could ever _want_."

"Tamsin... You don't believe that, do you?"

"You've been so distant lately... I'm sorry that I upset you. I'm sorry that I don't want what you want. And I'm sorry I can't give you what it is that you want. I'm sorry, Lauren... I'm sorry."

"Tamsin, Thana is an amazing person—"

"I knew it—

"_Platonically_ speaking," Lauren finished. "She is supportive and tries to help when she can. You know what those are characteristics of? A good _friend._ And that's all she is to me, Tamsin. A friend. But you... You're my _wife._ And I love you. Nothing is going to change that, not even... Not even a childless future."

"That's not what it sounded like at the beginning of this conversation..."

"I know... I don't know what I was saying," Lauren remarked somberly.

"Kids with you... If things were different, would be a_ dream_," Tamsin finally admitted aloud. "But as of right now what with the circumstances being what they are, it's a _nightmare._"

"I understand," Lauren nodded once solemnly. "Thank you for talking to me, Tamsin."

"Don't thank me," the Valkyrie bitterly remarked. "I owed it to you. I was asshole the other day and I was even an asshole the very first time you asked."

"But an asshole with reasons."

"So you admit that I'm an asshole?" Tamsin smirked and Lauren nodded culpably.

"Yeah. But you're _my _asshole."


	7. Smooth Criminal

"Lauren, you're still here?" Thana asked as her face appeared in the doorway. The doctor nodded. "Tamsin is gonna _kill_ you."

"I know, I know..." Lauren culpably answered, never looking up from her work on the lab table.

"So what're you doing here so late—you're _always_ working late," Thana replied as she strolled in, hands in her pockets, and leaned over the table with the doctor.

"Um..." Lauren turned her head up to look at Thana with surprise and gazed at her for a few seconds before going back to her Petri dish. "I'm working on a little something."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. It's top-secret."

"I have a feeling you're gonna tell me what it is though, right? You're going to tell me?" Thana asked and Lauren nodded as she patted the table next to the Keres. Thana hopped up and sat on it as she looked down at the doctor's hands and, of course, the Petri dish.

"So basically, in the human science world, they're developing a way to take a female's embryo and form it into a sperm cell, essentially..." Lauren informed her as she made eye contact.

"That's good news for lesbians," Thana remarked with awe and the doctor nodded again.

"They want to try bone marrow now though... It'd be more practical," Lauren explained. "But their problem now is that they need to cause these cells to go through meiosis in order to have the right number of chromosomes for fertilization—twenty-three out of our total forty-six we inherit."

"I understood about half of that—" Thana began, but was cut off as Lauren was completely lost in her tangent.

"But I've read papers on this and I think I can solve the meiotic problem," Lauren went on as she gestured to the Petri dish.

"Hate to be a buzzkill, but... Even if you achieve that... It'll be your human DNA with her Fae—the kids'll still be human. The very thing Tamsin doesn't want," Thana pointed out.

"Perhaps Tamsin will change her mind if the kids can be related to both of us? I mean, I know they'd still be human, but at least they'd be one hundred percent ours... We can't have everything we want, you know?"

"I don't know. Only one way to find out," Thana told her. "Have you said anything about this to Tamsin?"

"We haven't talked in several weeks..."

"You just sit there in the apartment completely silent? Did she leave?"

"No and no," Lauren shook her head. "I mean, we talk—we had one good conversation about why she doesn't want kids—but after that it's been very formal conversations and nothing of any real depth."

"Oh, wow..." Thana replied. "Lauren, you need to talk to her. About things. The game has changed."

"You're right," Lauren nodded as she tried to gather courage and picked up a pipette. "I'll talk to her when I get home."

Thana reached out and gently grabbed the doctor's wrist as she said, "You're never going to get home if you keep working."

"I-I just need a few more tests..." Lauren insisted, but Thana sighed.

"How many tests have you run?"

"Enough that they're statistically acceptable, I suppose. But I just need to run a few more—"

"Isn't three good in a lab?"

Lauren threw her a look.

"Okay, I know when it's a _simple_ lab three is okay. But my point is I think you're just nervous and putting off a confrontation."

"It's just... I wonder if Tamsin just made up all those reasons not to have kids. She shows no interest in them ever. And... The results I'm getting here in the lab... I feel like they're too good to be true. That I'll just wake up and find that this was all just a dream," Lauren admitted as she set the pipette down.

"This isn't a dream, Lauren. If it were... You and I would be doing some mighty different things right now," Thana joked. "And as for Tamsin possibly bullshitting her way through your conversation, well... There's only one way to find out."

•••

"Lauren, human kids are _human_ kids. No," Tamsin told her just as firmly as she had before. "Did I not give you an entire explanation about not wanting to lose you three times?"

"But Tamsin, this is... A huge scientific breakthrough! I'm not even going to expose it," Lauren protested. "Please... I just want children with you."

Tamsin's features softened as she looked at the doctor's pleading face. Lauren's eyebrows were raised, her eyes wide and hopeful. How could the Valkyrie say no? In fact, that was why she'd been so distant lately—she'd been working her ass off to make this happen.

In fact, it was hard enough to tell the doctor no in the first time—that was why she'd been so blunt. Lauren didn't often get what she wanted between the Fae and Tamsin's own idiotic tendencies. The Valkyrie shook her head and stared at the doctor for a moment. Lauren only gazed back and finally cracked the taller blonde who sighed and crossed her arms.

"_One_," she stated adamantly, breaking down. And as soon as the last sound of the word left her lips, Lauren leapt to her feet and practically crashed into the Valkyrie, kissing her all over her face. Tamsin didn't even have time to react from one kiss to the next. "Okay, okay—"

"Thank you!" Lauren exclaimed. "Okay, so I was thinking maybe if it were a boy it'd be named Ethan? And for a girl Charlotte? What do you think? But obviously, if it wants its name changed—for any reason—that's obviously something we need to be open to because not all of us are confined by gender and that's okay—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... You already have names for it?"

"Um, yeah. _Lifelong_ dream, Tamsin..." Lauren reminded her. "Anyway, I don't really know that I'd want to go with the traditional pink and blue because that's boring. But then again, I'm not the biggest fan of yellow so what do we go with? White? That's so bland..."

The more Lauren rambled on and on, the more anxious Tamsin felt. But despite all this, she felt a spark of excited anticipation.

•••

"She said yes?"

"She said yes!"

"That's great!" Thana exclaimed.

"We tried the conception so now we wait," Lauren bubbled over.

"So are you gonna want to know what it is or...?"

"Yeah. I think we'd want to know," Lauren nodded as she hunched over an unnamed serum. Thana eyed it, but never asked about it. She'd seen the doctor working on it for months, even when she'd been experimenting for a half-hers and half-Tamsin's child.

"Well, what're you doing at work? I'd be out doing anything _but_ science."

"That's where you and I are different," Lauren smiled. "The tests have been negative so far anyway..."

"What're you testing?" Thana asked, confused.

"Pregnancy?" Lauren responded. "Oh, you thought... Yeah. Pregnancy."

"Oh. Is this like a one-shot thing?" Thana asked. "Like Tamsin's only gonna give it one go and if it doesn't take it doesn't happen?"

"I don't know," Lauren sighed. "I didn't want to go that far and get such definitive parameters..."

"Smart," Thana commented. "Like—"

"_Albert Einstein_!" Lauren exclaimed, turning to face her with a light behind her eyes.

"Well, sure, but he wasn't so much a—"

"No, no! I did it," Lauren told her shrilly, growing even more excited than she had been only seconds before. Thana cocked her head at the doctor, who was already grabbing her coat.

"Whoa, whoa... What's happening right now?" Thana inquired. Lauren shrugged her jacket on and picked up a syringe before holding it up triumphantly.

"Fae history," Lauren declared before capping it and putting it in a case.

"I don't know what that means—"

"And you're not going to," Lauren told her gleefully. "Not until _I_ figure out what it means."

"Well, whatever it is... It seems to be making you happy so... Congrats?" Thana guessed and Lauren nodded her thank you before rushing out. The Keres watched her leave the building before walking over to the lab table and staring at Lauren's meaningless notes and chicken scratch.

She pulled out her phone and took a picture of it before sending it to three numbers in her phone as she walked out.


	8. Killing Me Slow

"Tamsin, could you come downstairs?" Lauren called from the doorway. "It's important."

She heard the Valkyrie's footsteps make their way to the stairs before Tamsin herself appeared only a moment later with the most quizzical expression on her face. The doctor rushed over to the lab set-up and put a small but long case on it just as Tamsin came over.

"Come see," Lauren needlessly told her as she popped the case open.

"What is it?" Tamsin asked as she stared at the two different colored liquids in the two separate syringes. She knelt by the lab counter and squinted at them as if that'd help, but it didn't.

•••

"It's a conversion recipe," the man told Thana as he set the test tube down on the rack. "It can turn Fae human. Theoretically-speaking. Though I don't know if it works."

She crossed her arms and leaned against the counter as she thought.

"Is there a way to tell?" Thana inquired and the man shook his head.

"Not by calculating... I'd have to do physical tests..." he trailed off and straightened out his lab coat. "Is there a part two to this... formula you sent me?"

"That's all I saw. Why?"

"It seems rather... _incomplete_. The solution undoubtedly is robust in itself, but... The formula doesn't seem to be what I'd consider complete," he explained. "There must be a part two... It could be a two-injection process, even. Or a reverser. But there is definitely a second piece to this puzzle. Might I ask you where you obtained this? This work is... _flawless_."

"That's on a need-to-know basis."

"And what is the purpose of one having this solution?"

"That's what we're gonna find out," Thana told him. "And I'm gonna squash it before it turns into anything."

•••

"Lauren..." she murmured as she stood up and shook her head. "What're you gonna do with this?"

"I don't even know," Lauren admitted. "It was a fun side project... I never thought it could actually be done."

"This is... a power to have," Tamsin told her, though the status of such a solution was fairly obvious to both of them. "If _anyone _knows you have this..."

"They don't. I haven't told anyone. You're the first," Lauren assured her. _"I _didn't even know what to do with this information."

"Alright, so the orange one is... Fae to human? Or the blue one is?"

Lauren stared at them and Tamsin felt her heart sink as she realized the possibility of the doctor not knowing.

"_Lauren_...?"

"The... The blue one is Fae to human," Lauren told her quietly. "No! The orange one is. The blue one is the human to Fae."

"You sure about that?" Tamsin asked and the doctor nodded with a little more confidence. "This is a dangerous thing to have, Lauren."

"I know..." she admitted as she admired the mixtures. "I ought to destroy them..."

"No—don't," Tamsin told her, taking in the sight of them once more. "Keep them. Under wraps, of course, but keep them. You never know if you'll want to use them."

"Actually... I do want to use them," Lauren confessed. "Well, one of them."

Tamsin's jaw clenched shut. She hated it when the doctor decided to test things at home. It made her nervous for her safety and her own.

"What're the side effects?" she asked with resignation. She should at least know what she was getting into before she let the doctor inject the stuff into her veins.

•••

"Can't tell," he answered the impatient Keres. "For all we know, the effects differ from one person to another."

"Do you think you could recreate it?" she asked him and he shrugged before giving her a nod.

"Sure. I mean, it wouldn't be exact because there is a DNA sample in here... The creator used themself to base it..." he explained. "Or should I say,_ 'herself?_' I can tell it was a woman from the samples. A _human_."

Thana chuckled softly and shook her head saying, "Wow. You're good, Dr. Acton..."

"Don't try to pass it off as I'm wrong. I know I'm right. A human female created this. There are so many things this little formula tells me. Things you can't even begin to grasp."

"Really," Thana commented neutrally so as not to start a fight and he nodded confidently once again. "So if you could recreate this substance... Do you think you could figure out the part two?"

"I could try, but it would be different. And it's not guaranteed to be the exact formula that the creator has," he admitted. "There would be many more risks than whatever are already in place with such a serum. And then there is... the physical testing. I would need to test on actual subjects..."

"Do it," Thana urged. "And if you need test subjects, I'll get them. Simple as that. Figure out part two. And when you do, I _will _be the first to know."

"Of course," he promised as she made her way out.

•••

"Well... If you're going from Fae to human... You could die within two hours after an injection. It could be nearly instantaneous or take the full two hours. But then again, you could also live. It's a toss-up. Perhaps it's all how your genes handle it."

"And it's the _orange_ one you said?" Tamsin asked as she began to roll up her own sleeve. Lauren's eyes widened and she flailed her arms at the Valkyrie.

"Oh no. You're _not_ being a test subject," she adamantly told her.

"How the hell do you expect to know if it works?"

"It just... I don't know. But I'd rather test on myself than you," Lauren told her. She didn't have the heart to tell her she already knew it worked.

"Don't you _dare_ test on yourself. If I could die, you probably could too."

"Actually... I could become a vegetable—although, that is essentially the same thing to me..." Lauren admitted as she encased the needles once again.

"So does the blue one have like... A random species generator or do you have to pick specifically what species to put into it?" Tamsin asked strangely as she watched Lauren.

"The only samples I was... _limited_ to... were a telepath and a Mesmer... Don't ask me how I got the latter," Lauren chuckled. "Those samples are difficult to get one's hands on."

"So which one is in the solution?" Tamsin asked again. The doctor didn't respond. "That was your plan, right? You want to turn yourself Fae. And then try for all-Fae kids, half yours and half mine."

"You knew?"

"Well, I didn't... But then you brought this to me... I figured it out," Tamsin told her honestly. "And you're trying to figure out which I'd be okay with, but it doesn't matter because whatever is in there is already in there.

"You don't sound too mad," Lauren remarked and Tamsin shook her head.

"You've been working so hard all for what? To change my mind? I shouldn't have been so harsh," Tamsin apologized. "I regret that now and I'm sorry it's caused you to do all this stuff. So how can I be mad when you've been trying to hard to please me? You shouldn't have had to and I'm sorry."

"You want to know what's in the blue one?" Lauren inquired softly and the Valkyrie nodded. "It's a Mesmer."

Tamsin brought her eyes to Lauren's.

"There is only one left," Lauren explained. "Besides... That combination between a Mesmer and a Valkyrie... They'd be _unstoppable_."

"I don't want to breed war machines," Tamsin told Lauren lightly with a smirk.

"No, but I _mean_... They'd be _safe_."

"You said the worst thing that could happen is that you'd become a vegetable?" Tamsin clarified again and Lauren nodded. The Valkyrie ran her fingers through her hair and drew in a deep breath before she leaned against the counter for support. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, whispering to Lauren, "Do it."

"Tamsin, we can take more time to—"

"Just do it, Lauren. Before I change my mind," Tamsin told her shakily. She blinked rapidly and looked up to the ceiling in an attempt to impede her own tears. "I could lose you."

"In two hours—"

"That's still not a lot of time," Tamsin reminded her as she gripped the counter and shifted her weight. "So just do it. It's noon right now. We have until two."

"I love you, Tamsin."

"I know," Tamsin's cracking voice responded. "I love you too."

"Tamsin, don't cry. It'll be okay. It'll work. Trust me."

"I do," Tamsin nodded, drying her eyes and facing the doctor. "I do."

•••

"She is doing _what?"_ Scarlett asked the Keres, who nodded the confirmation. "This is for that Valkyrie, Tamsin, isn't it..."

"I think so. But then again, that could be an innocent guise. I know Tamsin wants to see everything burn."

"What're you going to do about it?"

"I don't know. I need to find Lauren before she injects some poor unsuspecting Fae with that shit."

"What did Dr. Acton say?"

"He said there's gotta be a part two. So Lauren must be hiding it."

"What kind of a part two?"

"He wasn't too keen on that..." Thana paused. "Said it's either a reverser or a necessary second injection."

"Do we know if it even works?"

"He said he'd need to do a physical check—test on an actual Fae—so no. Not positive, but he's sure it would, most likely."

"You don't think she'll try on Tamsin, do you?"

"I don't know. She's a doctor with a lot of enemies... All Fae beings are number one as far as I know. Who else does she really have to hate? It's all a matter of who's a priority now..." Thana shook her head. "She's off her rocker."

"Well. I'd say it's a case of mental suffering," Scarlett remarked strangely as a small smile crossed her face. "And you know what we do to suffering dogs... We put the bitches _down_."

"I can't do that to Tamsin," Thana told her solemnly.

"You just double-crossed her wife," Scarlett shrugged. "Why not go a step further?"

"Because. It was my job to check in and see what she was working on. Okay? I was getting paid for that shit. But my job is done and I'm not about to go and kill the poor human doctor. No way."

"You're right... You can't do that to Tamsin," Scarlett admitted. "But_ I _sure can."

•••

"Okay, I'm a little scared," Lauren culpably confessed. Tamsin could see her hands shaking. "I probably shouldn't have done that. I don't know why I did that. That was a pretty stupid thing to do. Why am I so stupid? I'm sorry..."

"Hey, calm down..." Tamsin tried to soothe the doctor. "You said it was a slow decline... You got at least an hour of coherency before then—"

"Tamsin," Lauren scolded. "I know you're trying, but please stop. That's not helping."

"Okay. Sorry," Tamsin apologized. She brightened before holding out an imaginary microphone to the doctor and saying in a reporter voice, "Tell me, Dr. Lewis. How did you do it? Everyone wants to know."

Lauren smiled at Tamsin's gesture and began to tell her, "Well, it started off as a little experiment for shits and giggles. But it is no simple task because I had to isolate every chromosome..."

And off she went, lost in thought, never really stumbling over her words. She only ever got tongue-tied when she could decide on an adjective to use or when she had to put something complex into simpler terms.

And Tamsin tried to listen and follow everything Lauren said—oh god, did she try—but Lauren lost her a few sentences into her tangent. It was going well; Lauren's mind was off, well, her mind—and its status of intelligence and Tamsin was perfectly happy with listening to her passionate, content ranting, despite not knowing what the hell she was talking about.

The difference between meiosis and mitosis? Easy. One was spelled with a T... Assuming the Valkyrie was mentally picturing the words correctly. She shrugged and Lauren had already moved into another topic.

It was going well, sure, but then Lauren couldn't recall the term for some type of cell and she had to stop and think.

And think.

And _think_.

And _**think**_.

But it never came to her. The Valkyrie's eyes shifted to the clock; only forty-five minutes had passed. She forced herself to look at the doctor as if she hadn't noticed a thing, but truth was that Lauren's speech wasn't as fast as it had been when she had first started out. Lauren was trembling with frustration rather than fear.

"It... It's a basic thing," Lauren insisted as if she were trying to comfort herself. "Anyone who's ever passed high school knows what it is—or did at one time."

The Valkyrie shrugged as if it weren't a big deal and as if she didn't know the word Lauren was looking for either. If Lauren figured out she knew, she would feel even worse.

"It's um... A thing," Lauren lamely remarked as she dropped her arms to her sides with frustration.

"A _thing_..." Tamsin coaxed.

"A thing found in the..." Lauren stopped again and Tamsin saw the panic rise behind her eyes. "Things..."

"Reproductive system?" Tamsin tried and Lauren nodded, managing to regain her breath.

"Yeah..." she reluctantly accepted. "The things found in the reproductive system... I'm going to... take a break."

Tamsin nodded and watched the doctor sink into a seat. She rolled her eyes. A little failure to recall something didn't mean anything. Most people forgot stuff all the time. Granted, Lauren was not most people, but still. It was bound to happen.

"Don't worry so much," the Valkyrie carefully told the doctor. "You've almost made it past this first hour. You only have one more to go. Then when you're Fae, you can do whatever you want."

"Under the Light's jurisdiction," Lauren reminded her flatly.

"Okay, sure, but they can't pull the 'You're-Just-A-Dumb-Human' card on you anymore," Tamsin reasoned. Lauren nodded as if she were starting to believe her. "Or how about a nap? Then you won't have to think about anything. You'll just wake up and be Fae."

"Or I won't."

"Nonsense! You said Fae transition is guaranteed."

"But the waking up isn't," Lauren countered, her true intention behind the statement coming forth.

"Trust me. With genes and a brain like yours, you'll survive," Tamsin confidently stated. "I have no doubt in my mind. Which is saying a lot, given what I am."

"Tamsin, this is no joking matter. I know it works. I will be Fae whether or not I am cognitive enough to enjoy it. That's the whole problem here," Lauren told her before she started on another tangent about all the horrible things that could possibly go wrong.

"Okay, this is probably a horrible idea..." Tamsin told her apologetically as she came closer to the doctor.

"What is?"

"And you are probably gonna hate me when you wake up," Tamsin continued as she began to put her hair up.

"'When I wake up?'"

"Even more so for the headache you're gonna have to put up with—"

"I'll take aspirin," Lauren countered as she stared at the Valkyrie curiously. "What is it you're not telling me?"

"I don't want you to worry yourself for the next hour when we know everything's gonna be fine."

"No, we don't—"

"And even if it isn't... I suppose this would be a much more peaceful way to go," Tamsin sighed as her face morphed into that of a skeleton. Lauren froze and the Valkyrie knew she had her.

"W-What're you doing?" Lauren asked fearfully, though she wouldn't be able to comprehend any answer.

"I'm doing you a solid," Tamsin responded before she caught the unconscious doctor. "Oh man... You are gonna be _reeling_, Dr. Lewis."

The Valkyrie trudged upstairs with the doctor in her arms and set her on the bed carefully, staring at her to make sure she was okay. The Valkyrie's attention only diverted when she heard knocking on the door downstairs. She ran down the stairs, taking two at a time, and yanked the door open to reveal Scarlett.

"What do _you_ want?" Tamsin flatly inquired. Scarlett shrugged, but the Valkyrie noticed her eyes scan the room.

"Where is Dr. Lewis?" she asked tonelessly. Tamsin studied her black eyes suspiciously.

"She should be at work..." Tamsin replied reticently. "Is she not there?"

"No, apparently she left early."

Scarlett was making herself difficult to read on purpose and the Valkyrie was growing more agitated with it by the minute.

"Oh, you know what? She did," Tamsin nodded. "Sorry. She called me earlier saying she had a headache. She's probably at the drugstore picking up some aspirin. I'll tell her you stopped by though."

When the blonde went to close the door, Scarlett jammed her foot in it.

"You wouldn't mind if I came in?" Scarlett strangely inquired and Tamsin negated her request instantly. She shrugged before walking right in anyway, against Tamsin's wishes. "Lauren invited me in a while ago—I didn't take her up on it. But it was legitimate."

"Ah. I apologize for my lack of manners," Tamsin answered facetiously. Scarlett shrugged.

"No hard feelings," she responded angelically as she went deeper into the apartment, closer to the lab than anything.

"You looking for something?" Tamsin cautiously asked. "I could help."

"No, it's nothing..." Scarlett told her as she eyed an orange substance in a capped syringe on the counter. Tamsin followed her eye line to it, but showed no reaction when she went over to it. "Actually, what's in this, Tamsin?"

"I don't know," Tamsin answered.

"You sure about that?"

"_Honestly?"_ Tamsin approached Scarlett. "Yeah."

"So if I were to just, you know—_hypothetically_ speaking—stab this into someone... It wouldn't do anything to them?" Scarlett challenged as she picked it up.

"Well, I can't promise that," Tamsin admitted, eyeing the threat immediately. "You stab a full syringe into anyone it's bound to do something. Hell, even if it's full of air it'll do something."

"I'm going to ask you again... What's in this, _Tamsin?"_ Scarlett repeated dangerously as she tilted her head at the blonde.

"You going for a degree?" Tamsin bitterly teased her.

"You keep evading my question, Valkyrie..." Scarlett commented.

"Because we both know why you're here," Tamsin retorted ferociously. "For whatever the hell that is."

"Drop the act and cut the shit. I know you know what this is," Scarlett growled. "And if you think I'm leaving _without_ this... You're dead wrong."

"If you even think you're _leaving_... _You're_ dead wrong," Tamsin echoed in the same menacing tone.

"What happens?" Scarlett demanded to know. "Will I be human?"

"It doesn't work like that—"

"It does," Scarlett sneered. "I know exactly what this is. If I know, you know."

"If you know, then why're you asking?"

"Because there's something you're not telling me."

"Sure," Tamsin admitted shamelessly. "There's something I'm not telling anyone. I'm just a huge ball of mystery. But then again... You're also not telling me something."

"Clever."

"No, I'm just not stupid."

"I'm going to leave now," Scarlett declared as she came out from behind the counter, the syringe still in hand. "And you're going to let me."

"And why's that?"

"Because I'm going to tell you something that you're going to want to know about."

"What could you possibly know?"

"Promise me a safe exit—_with_ this—and the information is yours."

Tamsin hesitated. Scarlett wasn't a liar as far as she knew. Not when she made deals, anyway. If she said that she knew something important that Tamsin didn't, she wasn't bluffing. The only thing was, what exactly was it? How important?

"_Safe exit granted_," Tamsin reluctantly hissed through her teeth. Scarlett made her way toward the door and opened it before turning to look back at the seething Valkyrie.

"Tell Lauren that she ought to watch who she trusts..." Scarlett told her smugly. "That's going to get her into trouble."

Tamsin stuck her tongue in her cheek as she angrily followed the woman out, grabbing her by the shoulder and yanking her around to face her.

"Who's that for?" she hatefully inquired, gesturing to the syringe.

"That's none of your—"

"Because you could use it, you know..." Tamsin told her, changing her tone to a thoughtful one. "Think about it, Scar. A Fae-to-human serum... If you shot yourself up with it... You could be _human_."

"_Joy,_" Scarlett scoffed as she went to leave again. But Tamsin stopped her.

"Yes, _joy._.." Tamsin nodded. "And hatred. And sadness. All of which are human _emotions_..."

The pale woman internally froze at the idea and Tamsin knew she'd hit a weak spot.

"You'd feel everything again," Tamsin promised her, painting the woman a picture she longed to lay eyes upon. "Happy. Sad. Angry. Glad. You'd finally _understand_. You'd finally _be_ understood. Finally be_ accepted._"

The raven-haired woman stared into the Valkyrie's warm eyes, every fiber of her being wanting to believe her.

"Isn't that really all you've ever wanted?" Tamsin asked her softly. "To feel?"

She could hear a deep inhale from Scarlett.

"All you've ever dreamed about—your whole life—in this one needle," Tamsin exclaimed. "It's a beautiful thought, isn't it?"

"It is..." Scarlett admitted, her focus suddenly elsewhere. She looked down for a second before bringing her gaze up to Tamsin. "Alas, I fear it is bullshit."

"Only one way to find out," Tamsin told her before going back into the apartment and closing the door behind herself.

No way could the woman resist the temptation, even if she believed everything Tamsin said was a farce. She was just so_ desperate_... So _hopeful_... She'd try _anything._

And for her sake, Tamsin too hoped that the words she spoke to Scarlett carried truth. She knew just how empty a lack of emotion can make a person.

It isolated them from every sentient thing that walked the earth. It was being Tantalus, everything one could ever want was everywhere and almost within reach, but never attainable. It was pure torture.

And as far as she was concerned, to feel nothing was to be dead.


	9. Can You Feel My Heart

"Lauren?" Tamsin called gently. She glanced at the clock, which read a quarter after two. Her heart was racing as the doctor hadn't risen as she'd promised she would had the serum been successful and the Valkyrie's heart was racing. "Lauren!"

Still no response. The taller blonde's hands grew clammy as she shook the still doctor.

"_Lauren!_" she called a little louder and more frantic.

"Shhh, Tamsin..." she heard a faint voice whisper. The Valkyrie felt instant relief upon hearing the doctor's sleepy voice.

"Oh my _God_... You're okay," she softly uttered.

"Okay being a _relative_ term, I hope..." Lauren grumbled. "I have a splitting headache. I was going to try to sleep it off."

"Yeah... S-Sorry for that," Tamsin sheepishly apologized. "You remember what we were doing before you went to sleep?"

"If it's what I think it is, I'm not in the mood to continue right now," Lauren answered groggily. "My head hurts way too much to be doing that."

"No, it's not that. Think, Lauren."

"Well... If I think hard enough... I think we were having a conversation."

"We were. What about?"

"Some serum that I created, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly it..." Tamsin paused. "It turned you Fae."

"I did that?" Lauren opened her eyes with surprise.

"Yeah, you did that..." Tamsin smiled.

"It's coming back to me now—and the word I was looking for was _gametes_," Lauren informed the Valkyrie. "So I'm Fae now."

"Yeah, you are. A Mesmer, more specifically."

"I... I'm _alive_," Lauren realized and Tamsin nodded proudly.

"Yeah, you are. You were just so nervous I... I just had to put you asleep."

"You _roofied_ me?"

"No, I did not _roofie_ you. I just... put you out for a bit."

"Oh. I'd say that was kind of you, but this migraine begs to differ," Lauren told her.

"Of course," Tamsin chuckled before she sobered up. "Um... Can I tell you something?"

"Can it wait?" Lauren asked as she squinted up at the Valkyrie. She really did have a horrible pain in her head.

"No," Tamsin responded apologetically.

"Okay then."

"Scarlett came by when you were asleep... transitioning. And um... She took the orange serum."

"Tamsin... If that got into the wrong hands—"

"I don't know. I don't know whose hands it's in, Lauren. That's... the problem."

"What could she possibly want with it?"

"I don't know. I tried to divert her attention onto something she'd want more than pleasing whoever sent her after it. I told her it could turn her human—she already knew that—which could give her her emotions back. I can't guarantee that that's what she'll do, but it's what she wants more than anything in the world," Tamsin explained.

"And if she doesn't take it for herself? What then?"

"Then we don't know whose hands it's in," Tamsin admitted.

"Jesus, Tamsin... How could you just let her waltz in and take—"

"Because I'm an idiot concerned for your safety above everything else. Sorry," Tamsin responded.

"What do you mean?"

"She had a warning for you, but she'd only give it to me if I let her leave with the syringe," Tamsin explained. "She said you better watch who you trust because it'll get you in trouble."

"Sounds more like words from a jealous wife," Lauren commented, hinting about Tamsin's tacit rivalry with Thana.

"_Lauren_..."

"Okay, okay. I'll be careful," Lauren promised. A loud crash from downstairs startled the women, who then exchanged puzzled and fearful glances. Tamsin jumped up from the bed and began sneaking downstairs with Lauren behind her.

Upon making it down the stairs, the bottom floor appeared to be completely clear of any intruders and just as Tamsin turned to tell Lauren everything was okay, something fell against her and clung to her ankle; a gasping and wheezing Scarlett. She looked absolutely pathetic as she looked up at the Valkyrie with pleading eyes.

"T-Tamsin..." she rasped. Lauren came down the stairs and her jaw dropped at the sight. But Tamsin motioned for her to not make any sudden moves; she wanted to see how the situation would unfold. "Y-You gotta h-help me..."

Scarlett struggled to use Tamsin to get up, but the Valkyrie shook her off.

"I c-can't... br-breathe..." she whispered before panting, "I don't know what you did to me..."

"You did this to yourself," Tamsin promptly answered as she watched the woman grab for her foot again.

"W-What?"

"You did this to yourself. Now let go," Tamsin ordered, kicking her off for a second time.

"T-Tamsin, please..."

"Scarlett," Tamsin softly addressed her. "This feeling you're getting? From not being able to breathe? It's called panic..."

"Panic," she quietly echoed with awe. Her tone, for the first time in Tamsin's time on this earth, sounded sincerely amazed.

"Yes," Tamsin nodded, a feeling of sadness for the woman washing over her. "Panic."

"A-And you called it... a _feeling_..." Scarlett clarified as if it were too good to be true. The Valkyrie nodded once again.

"Yes," she told her. "It's a feeling. It's a form of fear."

"S-So I'm... _feeling_ something," Scarlett lie back in wonder.

"Yes."

"I can_ feel_..." the pale woman realized.

"Yeah. You can."

"I'm... I'm p..." Scarlett wet her lips and swallowed hard. "I'm... p-_panicking._.."

"Yes," Tamsin confirmed. "And that good feeling that you get from making this breakthrough is... called joy."

"_Joy,_" Scarlett barely was able to nod.

"Yeah. You're happy."

"I'm finally_ happy_..." was Scarlett's last dying breath as she stared peacefully and euphorically at the ceiling.

"Yeah..." Tamsin breathed as she knelt down near the woman and closed her hollow eyes. She turned to Lauren with a shake of her head. "Scarlett knew she was dying... The serum did the very thing she'd been so afraid to do herself."

"Then why'd she come here for help?"

"See if anyone cared enough?" Tamsin suggested, though she knew the truth. "Actually... She simply didn't want to die alone."


	10. Eden

**Scarlett: **_Talk to me about Lauren._

**Thana:** _the lite doctor?_

**Thana: **_what about her?_

**Scarlett: **_You know what._

**Thana:** _im serious. i dont want u to kill her._

Tamsin's fingers hovered over the keyboard of the dead woman's phone as she reread the last message over and over and over.

**Scarlett: **_Well, change of plan._

**Thana: **_what are u even talking about?_

The Valkyrie thought and thought before coming up with a response.

**Scarlett:** _I picked up the serum._

**Thana:** _fantastic. acton says he's made a rough copy. where is it?_

**Scarlett: **_Gone_.

**Thana: **_what do u mean gone?_

**Scarlett: **_The thing broke and it spilled everywhere._

**Thana: **_could u salvage anything?_

**Scarlett: **_No_.

**Thana: **_dumbass. im coming over in 2 hrs. if you're not there... u better have a good reason._

"Lauren Lewis, this is Ivan Alcott from the Council!" he shouted through the door as his fist pounded against it. "I'm gonna need you to open up!"

Lauren gave Tamsin a worried look and the Valkyrie remained where she sat, sliding the dead woman's phone into her pocket.

"Do I hide?" Tamsin asked and Lauren shrugged.

"Do _I_ hide?" she wondered and Tamsin replied the same way. The doctor sighed before she went over to the door and opened it to reveal the man standing on the other side.

"Lauren Lewis, I presume."

"I am she."

He eyed Tamsin before giving the doctor an annoyed look.

"It seems you are... no longer _welcome_ on the premises," he informed her coolly.

"And why's that?"

"You're harboring a Dark-aligned Fae on this property—" he gestured to the taller blonde. "And it seems you've undergone a little biological change yourself."

"So the Light is kicking me out?"

"_Hardly_," he scoffed. "They're having me collect you before giving you a date of execution. You've violated enough Fae laws and they've let you get away with too much."

"You're not taking her," Tamsin growled at him, appearing suddenly behind Lauren.

"I can and I will, Valkyrie."

"Those weren't your orders," Tamsin told him as her face changed. He stared at her for a moment before punching her to the ground. Her face went back to its humanly form.

"_Please_..." he chuckled as he dusted his hands off. "I only have mine to follow."

He straightened out his jacket and looked to Lauren expectantly.

"Are you coming, doctor?"

"Yessir," she nodded. And with that, they walked out together, leaving the stunned Valkyrie on the ground.

•••

"Can I see the archivist?" Tamsin asked the Morrigan. The brunette simply smiled as she sauntered over to the blonde.

"I don't know, can you?"

Tamsin rolled her eyes, about to make a snarky comment about behaving like an annoying schoolteacher when Evony continued.

"Your eye is so swollen... I can't even tell if it's _open_..."

"Fuck you," Tamsin muttered. "I don't know why I came here anyway. I need information on the Light."

"Well, you're not going to get it from them," Evony informed her. Tamsin already knew that. However, the Morrigan still managed to get her hands on Light information—because she was conniving. Tamsin knew what she was looking for and she knew she could find it here. "Do tell."

"It's none of your business."

"It is if you want to search through me."

"You like your Mesmers, right?" Tamsin asked. The Morrigan gave her a hard stare. "And power?"

"Keep talking."

"If I'm right... I can get you both. A two-in-one special."

"And?"

"And it'll piss off the Light."

"You're this close to sealing the deal," Evony admitted with a devious smirk. "But what's the catch?"

"None. You get a Mesmer. Unaligned, as of right now... She's new. And she's a brainiac scientist who has limitless knowledge and skill when it comes to the lab. And everybody knows knowledge, whether they consider it power or not, is at least an advantage."

"What could she possibly contribute?"

"Rumors have it that she may be on the verge of a Fae to human serum..." Tamsin replied mysteriously. "A lethal weapon against any foe."

Evony's lips stretched into a diabolical grin as she sharply called, "Archivist!"

A strange looking man appeared before them and she gestured to him with a flourish of her hands.

"He's all yours," she told Tamsin. "But if I find out that you've been lying—"

"You won't. She can't turn down any offer," Tamsin assured Evony as she left them.

"A monopoly..." she exclaimed with delight. Her voice rang through the hallway. "Now that's what I like to hear."

"Can you dig up anything on Lauren Lewis' enslavement?" Tamsin asked him politely. "She's the Light Fae doctor."

"That's who you've promised to the Morrigan!?" he asked incredulously as he reached up for his scalp. Tamsin nodded and he whistled, clearly impressed. "Valkyries really don't fuck around."

What sounded like Velcro ripped through the air as he peeled a huge piece of skin from his scalp before he smiled proudly as he handed it to Tamsin.

_**ON THIS DAY** the Light Fae faction has CLAIMED HUMAN, LAUREN LEWIS, formerly Karen Beattie, for purposes of MEDICAL CARE and SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. She will continue to serve as the Light Fae's human doctor until the CURRENT ACTING ASH elects to liberate her from the Fae or in the case that her life is terminated._

"Can I... Can I keep this?" Tamsin awkwardly asked him and he nodded just as the Morrigan came strutting back in.

"Find what you were looking for?"

"Exactly," Tamsin nodded solemnly. "Thank you."

"As long as you keep up your end of the bargain, we shouldn't have a problem."

Tamsin nodded once again before making her excited exit.

She sped all the way to where the Council typically met; she knew Lauren would be there. She knew both members of the Light Fae and the Dark would be there. If anything, the acting Ash and the Morrigan should technically be there too (although Evony typically was "fashionably late").

And as she burst through the double doors, the entire table of thirteen people looked at her.

"Tamsin! What a _lovely_ surprise..." Evony exclaimed, clapping sarcastically. The Valkyrie cast her eyes to the piece of skin she held in her hand, taking a deep breath before looking up and straight at Lauren, who stood bound in the corner. "I must say, even though I beat you, your timing is impeccable!"

"I don't know how far into the meeting you guys are," Tamsin began. "But I'd like to make an announcement."

"Get her out of here," an Elder grumbled and two men began to make their way toward her.

"Lauren Lewis is Fae. You guys probably figured that out already," Tamsin remarked, speaking quicker. "In fact, that's probably the main point to be touched upon in this meeting."

"She tried to make me pick my nose," the Ash sharply put in. Tamsin saw Lauren chuckle. "And that was _after_ she made my punch myself."

"Right. Proof that she's Fae—a Mesmer," Tamsin nodded. The men had only a few more strides to go. "But she's technically unaligned—"

The men grabbed the blonde and began dragging her toward the door. Tamsin struggled as best she could, given that she still clung to the archivist's scalp, and dragged her feet as they yanked her along.

"She is Fae property and she shall be executed for her attempts of terrorism against the Fae community," the Ash shouted as he violently stood up from his seat. The Elders tried to calm him down, but he shook them off.

"On the contrary—" Tamsin kicked and struggled, buying herself time. "This flimsy little piece of archivist scalp I hold in my hand here? Says—says that the Light Fae claimed the human Lauren Lewis. You hear that? _Human_ Lauren Lewis. _Human_."

"Release her," the Elder ordered and the men, who'd already hesitated upon hearing Tamsin's point, let go of her. She caught her breath and held up the piece of skin. "Carry on, Ms... Who are you again?"

"Just Tamsin," the Valkyrie replied, breathing heavily. "And the Light merely claimed the _human_ Lauren Lewis. Now, that thing in the corner—no offense, Laur—does she look and act human to you? Or does she act like a Mesmer? A type of Fae?"

"This is an _OUTRAGE_!" the Ash roared, slamming his fists on the wooden table. "Lauren Lewis is claimed! She is Light property—"

"She's Fae!" croaked an Elder as she put her glasses down on the table's glossy surface.

"Yeah!" some man loudly agreed while others shook their heads with disdain.

The woman looked at him before continuing, "Fae are supposed to choose their sides—Lauren Lewis hasn't explicitly stated which side she associates with—"

"It was implied when we claimed her, you old bat!" the Ash shrilly replied as he jabbed a finger in the doctor's direction. A few chuckles from others who sided with him.

"You can't _claim_ other Fae!" the woman shouted back, fearlessly shaking her small wrinkled fist at the large man. "We outlawed that centuries ago, you pompous—"

"Sit your wrinkly ass down!" a brunette woman shouted at her.

"You realize you're lobbying for a human—" the Ash started.

"Human? Alright. Let's untie her then, shall we? Untie her! Let's watch her make you pick your gaping nose again!" the woman squawked at him. "As if it wasn't attractive enough the first time..."

"I had an itch!" he argued.

"Oh really?" she looked at him with condescending incredulity. "Really? You had an itch? Where? Inside your skull? Go ahead—dig around up there. Maybe you'll find a _brain_!"

The room launched into several different discussions, each one escalating and growing louder with exchange. Eyebrows were drawn together, fists being shaken or slammed, voices being raised, laws being quoted, and opinions being hollered across the large table.

"_SILENCE!_" the Elder that'd ordered the guards to seize Tamsin yelled, his voice rising above everyone else's "Everybody be quiet!"

"Sir—" Tamsin began, but he held up a hand.

"Especially _you_, Valkyrie. You're the one that caused this ruckus in the first place. At least have the decency to keep your mouth shut."

Tamsin scowled at him, but said nothing.

"Whether or not we believe Lauren Lewis is Fae—"

Some "nots" and "is's" could be heard around the room.

"—we can agree on two things," he continued, ignoring the few side conversations occurring. "The acting Ash would like to sentence her to death. And the Dark Fae couldn't care less what happens to her. If anything, the Morrigan wants her. Am I incorrect with any of these assumptions?"

Dead silence.

"It's settled then. She goes to the Dark. They shall put her to death if they feel she is extraneous or they will 'lay claim' to her if they feel otherwise. 'Claim' being a loose term, of course. That way she is off the Light's hands completely."

"No, she does _not_ just go to the Dark. Would you be doing that if a Fae committed a crime on our side that the Dark may have interest in?"

"He just brought a Fae into this!" the old woman piped up as he shot her a dirty look.

"May I just say a few words?" Evony calmly asked. The group fell silent once again. "Lauren Lewis is an _exquisite_ scientist. That is not up for debate. She knows her way around a lab."

The Morrigan cast a glance at Tamsin.

"And her tests say she is indeed Fae—"

"They detect some human too—" a man tried to interrupt.

"Her abilities of a Mesmer say she is indeed Fae. People!?" Evony addressed them all as she stood up and opened her arms up, giving them a look of expectancy. "What more proof do you need?"

A soft murmur started again as they began to debate her words.

"Suppose she's Fae—" an Elder remarked. The old woman glared at him.

"What do you mean 'suppose?' She is!" the woman insisted.

"The test results show a small percentage of human!" he snapped. "But suppose we deem her Fae. Would she then choose a side?"

"Of course not. She started out as Light, she's automatically ours," another put in.

"You can't make that argument," a man disagreed, taking the words from the older woman's mouth. "Fae are born into these factions only to choose at a later date."

"She wasn't born Fae, you imbecile—" the Ash grunted. "She's trans-Fae."

"Trans-Fae or Fae, it's still Fae."

"I personally would want the woman who created this mixture to cause such a transition," Evony declared to them all, changing any of the opposing Dark Elders' minds. "She could create the antithesis—a Fae to human substance. And when she does, I want her on _my_ side."

"If she's dead, this all ends _now_..." the Ash muttered, crossing his arms and swaying the potential vote. "No need to worry about any dangerous serums anymore."

"Put her through the test!" one man yelled above all the debaters. "Test!"

A few of them caught onto his statement and agreed; people who were previously on opposing sides and people who were in agreement. They began to chant and more and more joined in with each beat:

"Test! Test! Test! Test! Test!"

Tamsin shook her head and set her hands on her hips as an Elder called for silence again.

"Does the majority wish to put Lauren Lewis through the test?" he asked them all and indeed the majority nodded yes. The Ash stewed, but he too agreed to it. The Morrigan cast a side glance at Tamsin. "Then it's settled. Lauren Lewis is Fae on the terms that she shall endure the test."

"And if she wins?" a woman wondered aloud.

"She shall pick a side," he replied. "She will have earned the right."

"That's treating her like she's Fae," a man protested. "She's human."

"She is Fae. There's no denying that," the Elder admitted. "She has the abilities of a Mesmer that no human could possibly possess. This is no longer up for discussion. Release the doctor at once. She will be scheduled for a test at a later date."

The guards cut her loose immediately and she rushed over to the Valkyrie, cowering behind her.

"You win this round..." the Ash muttered and the Morrigan smiled cruelly.

"Just you watch," she promised smugly. "I'll win the next one too."

•••

"When did you go to law school?"

"Do you even know how many lifetimes I've been through?" Tamsin joked. "Living with the Fae... You learn this shit as a survival technique."

"That is both impressive and terrifying at the same time," Lauren smiled. "So this test they're speaking of..."

"It's grueling. But I know you can do it," Tamsin insisted. "They have you go against Underfae... You choose a single weapon to help you."

"Do I get to choose these Underfae?"

"No," Tamsin chuckled. "You don't. Not that it matters anyway. You probably already know about all of them."

"Not all of them..." Lauren told her modestly. "There have to be a few undiscovered."

"Well, if they're undiscovered, you probably won't have to worry about them then."

"Good point..." Lauren nodded. The doctor's face suddenly looked so pale and taxed to the Valkyrie, but she made no comment. "I'm going to go take a nap..."

"You okay?" Tamsin quietly asked her.

"I'm just tired," Lauren answered with the same volume. "You can come with, if you want."

"Want," Tamsin grinned as she followed her upstairs. Lauren went to the bed immediately and pulled the covers up to her chin. The taller blonde lay down next to her and stared at the ceiling while she listened to her breathe. The Valkyrie could swear she felt something unspoken between them so she decided to ask. "Is there something you want to talk to me about?"

"I don't know, is there something you want to talk about?" Lauren responded. Tamsin shrugged; Lauren could feel the movement against the bed. "I'm Fae now."

"Yeah, you are."

"And after this... test I have to pass... we can carry on with our lives."

"Mm-hm."

"And possibly have kids?"

"Oh, Lauren... Of course," Tamsin nodded as she glanced over at the doctor, who still faced the wall. "We will definitely have them."

"Then that's all I wanted to talk about."

Tamsin could hear the smile in Lauren's voice and she found herself smiling too as she replied, "Good."

•••

"You'd better have a good reason for coming over here," Tamsin grumbled as Thana came inside and closed the door.

"Where's the doctor?" the Keres inquired mysteriously. Tamsin eyed her and shrugged.

"Last person who asked me that wound up dead," Tamsin answered.

"Did that person happen to be Scarlett?"

"What are you talking about?" Tamsin asked with feigned exasperation.

"She's dead," Thana told the Valkyrie. "I went to her place, found her on the couch."

"Do you know how it happened?"

"Not quite sure," Thana responded and Tamsin nodded.

"Well. If you want, I could take a look at the body... Look for anything suspicious."

"That won't be necessary."

"No? Why's that?"

"It was ruled a suicide," Thana told her. "The service for her is this Wednesday."

"I thought you said you didn't know what happened," Tamsin responded, not getting sidetracked.

"We don't know _how_ she killed herself."

A beat of silence.

"What do you really want?"

"I was texting Scarlett just this morning..." Thana sighed nostalgically.

"Yeah. I spoke to her only weeks ago—" Tamsin responded as if she were also reminiscing.

"But she died some time _last night_," Thana finished as she fixated on Tamsin. The Valkyrie fearlessly looked back. "So I've been exchanging messages with an imposter."

"Strange," Tamsin commented as she watched Thana's icy blue eyes shift to her lap.

"Is that a phone in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" she wondered facetiously, cocking her head at the rectangular shape in Tamsin's pocket.

"You know, as thrilled as I am to see you, I should tell you that it is indeed a phone," Tamsin nodded, conveying her irritation. Thana reached over and yanked it from her pocket.

"And whose phone might this be?" she asked, cocky as she turned it on. Tamsin shrugged as she watched a background of Lauren and her light up.

"Mine, I guess. Probably because people tend to stick their phones in their _own_ pockets..." Tamsin retorted as she snatched her phone back.

"I heard Lauren's gone through some sort of change?" Thana pried. Tamsin shrugged as she tucked the phone back away. Little did the Keres know, but she had the late woman's phone in the drawer of a side table right next to the clueless blonde.

"Don't we all? This is life."

"She's Fae, from what some stories say."

"That'd be a dream."

"A dream come true now," Thana insisted that she knew. Tamsin nodded.

"Yeah."

"Well, let me let you in on a secret..." the Keres offered as she leaned in toward the Valkyrie. "When I found Scarlett, she wasn't just dead."

"Oh no?"

"No..." Thana shook her head and took Tamsin's wrist in her hand as she moved her face closer to the Valkyrie's ear. Her breath grazed Tamsin's face and the Valkyrie found herself not breathing as Thana finished her thought. "She wa_s human."_

"How do you know?" Tamsin asked as she turned her face to look at the Keres, masking her thoughts completely.

"She was... _beautiful_," Thana murmured, sincerely lost in the memory. "Her eyes were semi-closed and the corners of her mouth were positioned in such a way I... I could've sworn she died _happy_..."

A pause.

"She just looked so... at peace," Thana shook her head with disbelief. "Tranquil. Could you imagine that?"

"I can," Tamsin admitted as images of the dying woman flashed before her.

"She looked more alive lying there on the couch without a pulse than she had when she'd walked this earth," Thana confessed. "She had color in her cheeks and her hair... It wasn't lifeless and black anymore."

"No?" Tamsin inquired with slight confusion. Scarlett's hair had been as black as night when she'd witnessed her death on Lauren's lab floor. And it shone coal-black when she'd carefully put her in her truck and drove the body to her home. And it'd still been black when she gently placed her on the couch and said goodbye.

"It was a regal, healthy auburn..." Thana informed the stunned Valkyrie. "And her eyes... They were a piercing forest green. Electrifying even after death. She was... beautiful, Tamsin. Absolutely _stunning_."

The Keres watched Tamsin stare off into space and she stepped back, blowing out a slow sigh.

"Well, I don't know why anyone would wanna turn human," Tamsin told her, shattering the mournful quietness that'd settled between them.

"Me neither..." Thana whispered, though they both knew exactly why Scarlett had done it.

"She wasn't a bad person," Tamsin nodded slowly, returning her focus to Thana. The Keres agreed and Tamsin forced herself to harden back up. "Is there anything else you wanted?"

"No."

The Valkyrie motioned toward the door and the Keres pulled it open and made her exit. Tamsin watched her close the door and listened to her begin to walk away before opening the drawer and taking the phone out and checking Scarlett's contacts. She only had a handful; yet Tamsin copied them into her own phone before she tossed the device back into that drawer.

•••

A violent struggling in the bed woke Tamsin and she turned over to see Lauren fighting the sheets tangled around her legs. The Valkyrie went to wake her, but found that the doctor was already fully alert.

"Lauren—" she began, the worry in her voice obvious. The doctor held up her index finger and sprung from the bed just as she gagged and wretched into the sink. The Valkyrie rushed over to her and found Lauren shaking and her eyes frantic.

"I-I had another nightmare," she gasped as she rinsed the sink and stared into the mirror. Tamsin rubbed her back and rested her head on the heavily breathing doctor's shoulder.

"It's okay now," Tamsin gently assured her.

"No... But it was the worst one yet," Lauren panted.

"What was it?" Tamsin reluctantly asked.

"It was a _child_, Tamsin..." she croaked, nearly gagging again. The Valkyrie soothed her the best she could. "I-I had to kill her."

"Lauren... You know that's not possible. Underfae are adults. It's after the Dawning—that only happens when the Fae is two hundred years old or so. It couldn't be a child. I promise," Tamsin explained. "When I said grueling, I didn't mean downright depraved. I'd like to think my kind has some semblance of decency."

"You're right, you're right..." Lauren nodded as she hobbled over to the bed and finally began to relax as she pulled the blankets over her lap. "I-I was just so shaken up... I could feel the poor kid's blood running down my hands and I just kept... hearing the organs squish underneath my feet..."

"Okay, now _I _want to puke," Tamsin commented as she sat in bed with her. "But I know how sickening that can be."

She remembered of the dreams she'd experienced before; witnessing the doctor get crushed by a speeding car and her carnage splattering across the Valkyrie's body. She shuddered just thinking of it.

"You feel like doing anything today?"

Lauren had had the entire week so far off as she was considered Unclaimed and so the Light couldn't exactly force her to work as they had in the past. It'd been the best week of her and Tamsin's life. They had so much time together. She wanted to stay like that forever.

"I actually have a brief meeting with the Morrigan scheduled for today," Lauren sighed as she pushed the sheets off herself, but made no effort to move from her spot. "If I make it through—"

"Stop saying 'if,'" Tamsin interrupted, but continued listening.

"—she wants me to already be clear on my limits and place in her faction."

"Why can't _I_ just—"

"That's what I said!" Lauren agreed. "But she insisted. I'm due in a half hour."

"Guess you should get going then," Tamsin sighed as she slapped Lauren's behind as she got up.

"I love you," Lauren told her as she leaned down to kiss her. But Tamsin squirmed and pressed the back of her head into her pillow as she created a bit more distance between them.

"Uh-uh. You just puked. Brush your teeth first," Tamsin wrinkled her nose, but smiled at the doctor who nodded with understanding.

"Right. Sorry," Lauren apologized as she went back into the bathroom. Tamsin lay back and after a few moments, the phone rang on the stand next to her and she picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Is this Dr. Lewis?" a man's voice asked.

"No, but this is her wife..."

"Her test date is set for the middle of this month."

"That's next week..."

"I'm aware. You'll tell her, won't you?"

"Well, sure, but—"

He hung up before she could protest and she set the phone back on the hook just as Lauren emerged from the bathroom and kissed Tamsin.

"I love you," she repeated and Tamsin nodded as Lauren went downstairs. She didn't feel like telling her yet. She'd ride out the rest of the week with her first, perhaps. The poor doctor's stomach was in knots already. She heard the door close, signaling the doctor's departure.

•••

"What do you mean you lost it?" the man bellowed in the Keres' face.

"The delivery didn't come through, Sir..." she reiterated to him, keeping a brave face as she looked him in the eyes.

"And why not?"

"It..."

"It what?"

"Someone ambushed her and injected it into her, Sir," Thana lied. Scarlett's image would remain untarnished if she could help it. She wouldn't be remembered as that weirdo that went on a mission just to kill herself. She wouldn't be remembered as the woman who betrayed her boss by she was just too numb to carry on.

She would be known as the innocent victim of an unfortunate event, honor still intact.

"I'll bet it was the creator," he grouched, leaning his face on his fist. "Kill them, whoever they are."

"I... I can't do that, Sir..." Thana whispered, hanging her head.

"Speak up!" he ordered and the Keres looked up at him.

"I can't do that, Sir."

"Why not?"

"Conflict of interest, Sir."

"Conflict of interest," he scorned, laughing as if someone had told him the best joke in the world. The Keres nervously watched him, keeping silent. "How's this for your interest: it'd be in your best interest to do what I say."

"I'm sorry, Sir. But you're going to have to find someone else to do it," Thana told him as respectfully as possible. "Sir."

"I hired the best," he argued. "And the best is going to do it."

"Well, I won't do it."

"Sephtis! _Seize_ her!" he ordered and immediately a man in a cloak emerged from the shadows.

"Seph, _please_..." Thana pleaded with him as she put her arms out defensively. He grabbed her arm and flipped her with ease before twisting it behind her back. She grunted in pain.

"Stop struggling," he mumbled into her ear as he dragged the thrashing Keres out. "It's futile."

"I _hate_ you," she growled, still squirming.

"I'll get you help," he promised her in a low voice. She faltered for a moment, unable to believe what she'd just heard.

"So sad to see another good one fall from excellence," her boss tsked as Thana was dragged out. The double doors closed behind them and Sephtis released the Keres.

"You're my friend..." he muttered, a cold edge to his tone. "I owe you this. A life for a life."

Thana squinted at him, never remembering doing anything to help him, but she thanked him anyway.

"Thanks, man."

He studied her strangely before saying, "You're not Tamsin."

"No, I'm not."

He cursed, but didn't make a move to grab her.

"Are you one of them?" he wanted to know. "The winged ones that take the warriors from the battlefield?"

"I am," Thana nodded vigorously, telling herself she wasn't lying. He seemed to relax and he nodded as well.

"When you see her... Tell her I said thank you," he grunted.

Thana nodded again as she began jogging gratefully away. He turned and shook his head at his own softness.

"I'll tell him you broke out," he called quietly after her as he watched her leave. "My debt is paid."

•••

"Right on time, Dr. Lewis... Punctuality to me is... _quite_ appealing," Evony remarked. Lauren watched her cross the room, designer heels and all.

Lauren couldn't believe that the woman wasn't a Succubus—she sure had the looks for it. She stopped by a table with a bottle of champagne sitting on it along with two wine glasses. The brunette popped the bottle open with ease before pouring half a glass for each one. She continued on over to the doctor and held one out.

"I thought we were going to go over some Dark laws?" Lauren wondered aloud, though she accepted the drink.

"Oh, please. I need to look like I mean business," Evony chuckled as she raised the glass to her perfectly stained lips. "I simply called you here because, well, I wanted to take you in... And all your _Einsteinian_ glory."

"Oh," Lauren blushed. "Well, thank you."

"And might I say... You are a piece of art, Dr. Lewis..." Evony complimented her as her own brown eyes swept over her. "A very _fine_ piece of art indeed... I can't wait to make you mine."

"Well, uh, it's a pleasure," Lauren awkwardly nodded.

"I'll say!" Evony exclaimed shamelessly. "Tell me, Dr. Lewis. What's the most annoying thing when it comes to working in a lab?"

"What isn't?" Lauren chuckled, mostly trying to put herself at ease. "But I'd say getting products stuck in the test tubes. Sometimes they're nearly impossible to clean."

"I shall try to minimize that for you," the Morrigan commented, stepping closer. "Though, your fingers must be adept with maneuvering by now..."

The doctor swallowed and nodded once as she watched the brunette slowly approach her, completely disregarding any personal space precedent previously established.

"My, my, my... You are fascinating..."

"Thank you—"

"I have a proposition," Evony told her as she traced the rim of her own glass. Lauren eyed her cautiously. "Come."

The doctor raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth to speak, but the Morrigan began to lead her toward a closet. The brunette threw open the doors and revealed a glinting dagger.

"Gorgeous, isn't it?" the woman grinned proudly. "And sharp too. Like you."

Lauren stared at her before focusing back on the blade before them.

"I had it specially made..." Evony told her as she took it from its spot and held it out to her. "There'll be one just like this on the day of your test. Take it."

Lauren gazed at the mysterious Dark Fae leader with a questioning expression.

"Do you see this gem?" Evony asked as she gestured to the sparkling stone. "Use it to your advantage. I know you mustn't be the most athletically-savvy person..."

"I'm not following," Lauren admitted and the Morrigan smiled at her as if she knew everything in the world.

"This blade... Think of it as a needle, Dr. Lewis. And the gem is a button that'll work to your advantage... The longer you hold it in, the higher the dose that is released," Evony explained. "Use it and you'll be guaranteed to pass."

"That's cheating," Lauren remarked and the Morrigan chuckled.

"Do you know how old I am?" she inquired as she put the dagger back. "Don't answer that out loud. But my point is, I got to be this age not by playing by the rules. Sometimes you have to play dirty, Dr. Lewis."

"I don't do that."

"You do if you want to live," Evony retorted. "Besides... I want you."

Lauren's eyes dropped to the floor.

"I want you and I want you on my side—the Dark wants you. It needs you."

"What if I get caught?"

"You won't..." she promised with surprising confidence. "Think of it as the Dark's welcome present to you. And besides... You're not the first I've helped."

"And this isn't a trick?"

"Of course not. You're what I would consider 'valuable.' That means I'd go to extreme measures to obtain you."

"I'll think about it."

"Well, you better think fast," Evony remarked with a smile. "Because you only have five days."

"Five days? I thought I was supposed to receive a call by now..."

"You might've," Evony shrugged innocently. "But then again... You're not the only one in the house capable of answering the phone, are you?"

•••

"Okay, Lauren. You up for some training?" Tamsin asked as she eyed the doctor on the couch.

"Not really."

"Lauren..." Tamsin shook her head. "You can't wing this."

"I won't. But I'm cozy on this couch right now and I don't feel like getting up," Lauren admitted with a smile in the Valkyrie's direction. "Come join me."

The taller blonde rolled her eyes, but went right over to her, moving her legs before she sat underneath them.

"Do you feel like making dinner?" Lauren inquired innocently.

"Um, sure?" Tamsin responded with sheer confusion.

The doctor never usually asked her to cook. And when she did, it was with supervision. The Valkyrie didn't know how to make much and what she did, it usually didn't turn out well. Except for that one kalops recipe she knew like the back of her hand. Oh and that pölsa too. Both of which had been in her family for generations and generations. But they didn't have even half the ingredients for either. Was the doctor feeling suddenly suicidal? Nevertheless, the taller blonde forced a smile and nodded.

"Lauren, I know how smart you are. And I know how remarkable that memory of yours is, but just as a safety precaution, let me just remind you of this one thing," Tamsin paused. "The last time I cooked, I damaged the pan so badly we had to throw it out. And the smoke detector was so disgusted that it started _screaming_ at me. Louder than you were."

"Okay, I was not _screaming_... I was simply talking louder than my usual volume," Lauren answered with a laugh. "And that was because the smoke detector was, as you said, screaming."

"Sure, okay."

"Okay, maybe I yelled a _little_. But I was worried—"

"About the pan or my hand?" Tamsin teased. "Because I don't recall you furiously scrubbing my hand."

"Hey, that was a _good_ pan."

"It was," Tamsin agreed. "You loved it more than me and I just had to get rid of it."

"Of course," Lauren laughed.

"Should probably get started..." Tamsin groaned as she rose from the couch. "But uh... Don't blame me when I have to pick your casket out."

"I won't."

"Seriously. I'll mark your grave with: '_Dedicated wife; died eating wife's food_.'"

"You do that."

Tamsin sighed as she went over to the kitchen to inspect the fridge and cabinets and their contents.

"We have absolutely nothing I could possibly combine in a way that won't end with you getting food poisoning," she remarked.

"Okay, you can only get that if there's bacteria or some other kind of toxin in the—"

"You know what I mean," Tamsin scrunched her nose up at the doctor.

"Just throw something together," Lauren suggested as she went over to her. "I won't care."

"You'll care when you're tasting _pickles_ in the _yogurt_ filling I put in a bagel," Tamsin told her. "You'll care then."

"Well... You're not going to do that—_are_ you?"

"No! Don't be silly," Tamsin shook her head. "It'll be on spaghetti, not a bagel."

Lauren chuckled and looked to the ceiling for help as she watched the Valkyrie.

"Let's see. We got our... whatchamacallit. Protein. In the uh... The sauce. Right? The little meaty bits?" Tamsin spoke aloud. "Protein. And we got our dairy with the yogurt. Grain with these gross non-white ziti noodles or whatever they are—"

_"Penne."_

"Whatever," Tamsin continued. "We got our fruit because tomato sauce—"

"Tamsin, you're_ hurting_ me!" Lauren teased.

"And what, those little green things in the sauce... They're veggies, right?" Tamsin shrugged with a smile in the doctor's direction. "So we're all set."

"Tamsin, promise me something."

"Anything."

"_Don't _cook for our children."

The taller blonde laughed and nodded her vow as she went to reheat only the spaghetti.

"They'll thank you one day," she assured Lauren. The doctor laughed and nodded before stretching up and kissing her on the lips.


	11. Gallows Pole

"Tamsin, my test is this Wednesday. I'm going to go out for a bit and get some things," Lauren notified the Valkyrie, watching her to see if she'd react.

"This Wednesday?" Tamsin asked and Lauren nodded her clarification, deciding the taller blonde had no suspicion in regards to her intentions whatsoever. Good. "Oh."

"Why 'oh?'"

"Well, um... Scarlett's services are Wednesday and Thursday," Tamsin informed the doctor. "I was planning on going, but... You know if you want me there, I'll be there."

Lauren opened her mouth to speak, but the phone interrupted her and she answered it after the first ring instead of replying to Tamsin.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Lewis! So good to hear your voice," Evony cooed on the other end. "How are you with the preparation process?"

"I was actually just heading out for some things. Thank you for asking."

The Valkyrie mouthed to Lauren, "Who is it?"

The doctor shooed at her and made a motion for her to be quiet. Tamsin rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She had been quiet. The doctor let out a sigh through her nose as she mouthed the answer to Tamsin.

"Good, good. I just wanted to check in. Can't have my MVP unprepared."

"Thank you."

"Listen... It seems we've encountered a little... Problem," Evony informed the doctor. "Our faction has suffered a loss and there is much speculation."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"You don't know a Scarlett Arrosa, do you? Please say you don't... It wouldn't be good."

"I-I do..." Lauren replied honestly. She heard the Morrigan sigh.

"You didn't assassinate her, did you? She was found in a compromising state which can be traced back to you, potentially."

"No... My lab did suffer a break-in though," Lauren responded, twisting the truth. She watched Tamsin's green eyes dart to her with worry.

The Valkyrie mouthed, "A break-in? When?"

Lauren ignored her and turned around.

"So someone else could be behind it."

"How exactly was she found?" Lauren feigned cluelessness.

"That's not information to be released," Evony responded.

"Well I didn't do anything to her."

"I'd hope not. Because that could be interpreted in three ways," Evony went on. "If you were human when this happened, it could mean a declaration of war from the Light... Or an act of terrorism against the Fae. And if it happened when you were as you are now, it could still be taken as a crime—Fae can be convicted for killing other Fae."

"Yes, I realize that."

"What I'm asking is... If you need something to be covered up, I need to know now," Evony told her. Lauren paused a beat and the Morrigan sighed with instant comprehension. "So you know something about this."

"How was she found?" Lauren inquired again.

"Human. You know that."

"You're right," Lauren admitted. "I do."

"We have her in the morgue right now. She came in with a black wig..."

"Does the morgue attendant know?"

"No."

"Has he done anything to the body yet?"

"I ordered him not to. Right now he's under the belief that Ms. Arrosa always wore that wig. The body is simply being chilled."

"That isn't specific enough," Lauren informed her. "What kind of mortuary chamber is she being stored in—positive or negative?"

"Dr. Lewis, I'm afraid you've lost me."

"I'll to come down," Lauren told her. "I want to see the full effects."

"But there is _something_ to hide," Evony wanted clarification.

"I don't know yet. Maybe."

"I'll have her set aside for you," the Morrigan decided. "Come down as soon as you can."

Lauren verbalized her confirmation before hanging up and turning right into Tamsin.

"Who was that?"

"The Morrigan. She knows about Scarlett."

"Dammit... So does Thana," Tamsin informed the doctor, who cursed in response to the revelation. "That's two people... What're we gonna do? It's gonna spread like wildfire."

"Well, the logical thing to do would be to kill them both before they can use the information against us—for example, blackmail..." Lauren answered levelly. Tamsin threw her a look and she chuckled. "Sorry. I know, we're obviously not going to do that."

"We're in a precarious situation and you're making jokes. Wonderful," Tamsin shook her head and walked away.

"The Morrigan says she'll cover it up—"

"Lauren, is there something _wrong_ with you?" Tamsin snapped. The sting of her statement became apparent as Lauren seemed to become paralyzed with insult as a reaction to it. The shorter blonde looked as if she'd been hit. The Valkyrie immediately regretted it, but she knew there was no coming back from that. She simply softened her tone and went over to the doctor, sighing apologetically as she explained. "The Morrigan is going to do _anything_ she can to get you to choose her. That's what she's doing, Lauren. She's kissing up to you. She wants you to think, 'Oh, the Dark isn't all that bad!' and when she has you—meaning that you've chosen her side—she'll use the coverup as leverage and have you as her personal slave. Possibly worse than your previous little arrangement with the Light."

"But she'll protect me," Lauren wondered aloud and Tamsin let out an exasperated sigh.

"That's _my_ job..." Tamsin told her. "But yeah, she probably will. You'd be valuable to have, from her objective standpoint. Only a complete _idiot_ would let you slip through their fingers."

"Do you think we could get dirt on her?"

"Why? You plan on getting even? Let me tell you this: you never get even with Evony Fleurette Marquise."

"Why not?"

"Because she's got enough dirt on everyone else to make an anthill that stretches to outer space," Tamsin told her. "And while nobody likes her, she has enough leverage to keep herself in power for a very long time."

"Tamsin... We don't exactly have a choice."

"If you get screwed over..." Tamsin trailed off before her tone grew aggressive. "I can't keep saving you, Lauren! I _can't_. I wish I could, but one of these times, I'm gonna be out of ideas. I got _lucky_ at that Council meeting. That's not gonna happen every time."

"Tamsin—"

"They could potentially try you as a human!" the Valkyrie shrilly continued, lost in her panic. "If they _really_ wanted to. Don't think I forgot what they said. They said you had a small percentage of human detectable. Your serum had a glitch that you hadn't anticipated—admit it. And they will use every last bit of anything they possibly can against you. We are a ruthless race, Lauren."

"Tamsin..."

"We were fighting ourselves to _extinction_," Tamsin reminded her. "Remember the Great War? Well, no... Of course you don't. You weren't there. But I know you must've heard of it. We didn't even really stop—the truce was forced because of the fucking Blood King. Do you _see_ how senselessly brutal we are? Do you _see_ a pattern here?"

"May I talk?" the doctor interjected. The Valkyrie nodded with resignation. "My calculations were both precise and accurate. My serum does not have a glitch._ I _have a glitch."

The taller blonde's face fell as she assumed the worst.

"W-What kinda glitch are we talking about?" she forced out.

"I don't know," Lauren assured her, taking the Valkyrie's arm. "But if it were fatal, you'd have lost me by now. I could probably solve it with some tests—what else is new? That could take a number of months, depending on what the problem is. I'm setting a goal at six though."

"Lauren. That's half a _year_," the Valkyrie responded with frustration. Her tone sounded tight and her eyes looked intense. Lauren had to calm her down.

"Tamsin... These things take time," Lauren informed her. "And besides. I have something to tell you."

"What?"

Lauren gave her a sideways glance, waiting for some realization to come and Tamsin stood there dumbly, waiting for Lauren.

"Tamsin, I think I'm pregnant."

Dead silence.

"I wasn't going out for things for my _faction-deciding_ test. I was going out for a _pregnancy_ test and—"

"Y-You're... What?" Tamsin asked, suddenly animating and squinting at the doctor. Her words weren't sinking in. Lauren waited patiently. "I... You..."

"Yes," Lauren nodded, a smile breaking out on her face. Tamsin's face lit up as she hugged the doctor, picking her up, and spinning her around once before kissing her. She set her down carefully as Lauren added, "I didn't want to tell you like this... But you were getting all worked up. I thought some good news might do you some, well, _good_."

"H-How long have you known?"

"Well, I mean, I still need to confirm it, but between the few missed periods—"

"You're never wrong," Tamsin teased. "No confirmation necessary."

The doctor watched the Valkyrie's eyes look at her from head to toe, glowing with excitement.

"God, you look good though..." Tamsin told her. "Not saying that you _won't_. Because you will."

"Thank you," Lauren laughed.

"Hey, wanna make a bet?" Tamsin suddenly suggested. "It's a girl. I'm calling it right now."

"I'm feeling a boyish vibe..." Lauren disagreed.

"You would say that. You're just saying that to contradict me," Tamsin teased.

"I'd say yes, but fact trumps personal motives in this case. "It's a fifty-fifty chance."

"Lauren, that doesn't even make sense given the way he was created. I'm a Valkyrie, which can only be female—"

"I know how these things work, Tamsin. Trust me. He could be a boy."

"Whatever," Tamsin shrugged. "But when you pop that sucker out and you see a lack of male genitalia on him, I will rub it in your face forever."

Lauren stared at the Valkyrie strangely.

"The fact that I'm right. Not her um... You know... Because that'd be weird," Tamsin clarified.

"Fine. I guess we'll see."

"How far along are you?"

"I'd guess about three months? Maybe a little less? I'm not sure," Lauren admitted.

"Wow... I can't believe... _Wow_," Tamsin murmured to herself.

"Me neither. You'd think as a doctor, I'd notice."

"Eh..."

The reply had slipped out before the Valkyrie could keep it to herself. Lauren's eyes snapped to look at her.

"What do you mean '_eh_?'" she defensively asked. Tamsin shrugged again.

"You're a genius, Lauren. But sometimes, you're a bit... I don't know how to say it... Absentminded? But I think it's because you never stop thinking," Tamsin explained.

"Well, as much as I hate to admit it..." Lauren took a dramatic breath. "You're right. I am like that, now that you say that."

A pause.

"I have to go to the Dark's morgue," Lauren told the Valkyrie. "I told Evony I'd at least look at Scarlett's body."

"Just... Don't get tricked into anything," Tamsin sighed. "And keep your guard up."

"I will," the doctor promised.

•••

"Positive. I knew it," Lauren proclaimed as she walked into the morgue.

"_What_?" Tamsin nervously asked. She'd insisted on coming with the doctor just in case and she thought the woman was talking about her pregnancy. Which wouldn't have been a smart move.

"Scarlett is in a positive mortuary chamber."

"So when I die, I'm going to be in an negative one? Because I lived as a pessimist?"

"No, no. Bodies are stored either just above freezing or at a negative number. The ones stored at a negative number are in what's considered to be a negative chamber. Scarlett isn't frozen."

"Okay..."

"Ah, you must be Dr. Lewis," a ginger-haired man greeted her. "I'm Dr. Zoltan. Which is actually ironic because it means 'life.'"

"That _is_ funny," Lauren agreed. "And yes, I'm Dr. Lewis. And this is Tamsin."

"Let me show you the way," he replied as he led them. Tamsin silently watched his eyes longer upon Lauren. Upon arriving, they saw Thana standing in the room with her arms crossed as if she'd been waiting for a while. The Valkyrie stiffened.

"And this is where I leave you," he told them before making his exit.

"What're you doing here?" Tamsin asked the Keres. Thana shrugged.

"I almost got skinned for her. And I don't hold our last conversation in the highest confidence. I'm making sure you're not gonna do anything to her."

"That doesn't even make sense—"

"Ladies. Could you please?" Lauren interrupted as she slid the body out. "Thank you."

The two lighter blondes glared at each other behind her back as she inspected the body.

"_Remarkable_..." Lauren murmured, slipping the wig off the woman. The doctor heard the Valkyrie draw in a breath. Waves of Scarlett's auburn hair swung slightly, cascading off the edge of the tray on which she lay.

The glossy sheen of each strand seemed to pierce Tamsin, the late woman's humanity finally sunk in. She'd pictured everything Thana had told her, but she never could really accept it. Lauren turned and faced the Fae with a questioning expression.

"Why did she have this on?"

The doctor and the Valkyrie exchanged a glance; they knew the woman hadn't been wearing the wig when she'd died right before their eyes. Someone else had to have fitted it and placed it on her.

"I put it on her," Thana confessed. "She was human and I couldn't let her legacy be tarnished. As lost as she was, she deserved to keep her honor. And I knew the transformation had some kind of significance. I figured I'd hide it until we figured out the reason."

"And you're the one who brought her to the Morrigan?" the doctor inquired.

"Yes... It was the only way. Someone else would've discovered her and who knows what they'd do. I knew the Morrigan would at least keep quiet—it'd be embarrassing to have that kind of a change in a Fae from her own faction. Someone'd stage a coup the moment the news got out. Next person in line is worse than she is—you do the math."

"What did you mean you almost got skinned for her?" Tamsin wanted to know.

"None of your business. But I ran into a guy, by the way—Sephtis—and he says thank you."

Thana witnessed Tamsin's eyes go distant, but the Valkyrie never revealed a thing. She cleared her throat. They watched as Lauren plucked a strand of Scarlett's perfect hair and bagged it before repeating the process with some of her skin. She even collected some blood.

"Actually, I'd prefer it if I had the body in my possession, but I suppose it's safer here."

"Good to know that you realize that, Dr. Lewis..." Evony put in as she entered. "Tamsin, Thana. Good to see you both."

She eyed Tamsin.

"I'm assuming she knows what this is about?" Evony commented flatly, her disapproval evident.

"We have no secrets from each other," Lauren answered thickly. The Morrigan eyed the Valkyrie some more before letting up on her scrutiny.

"Well then. Let's get started."

"Actually, I've gotten some samples... That's really all I need," Lauren informed her. "I mean, she's human. There's no doubt about that."

"Yeah, we're actually gonna get going," Tamsin quickly added, surprising even Lauren. The doctor threw her a confused look, but the taller blonde paid no mind. The Valkyrie gave Thana a hard stare and said, "_All_ of us."

Lauren and Tamsin moved toward the door; the Valkyrie reached out and yanked Thana along with them.

"Good luck," the Morrigan called after them as the door closed. She turned and placed the wig back on the dead woman before sliding the tray back into its compartment. Only moments later did the morgue attendant return.

"Ms. Marquise..." he greeted her pleasantly.

"Dr. Zoltan," she answered. He seemed to smile strangely as he moved behind her for some of his equipment. Evony went to turn and see what he was up to, but before she knew what was happening she felt a sharp pain in her head and everything went black.

•••

"An irregular degree of postmortem apoptosis..." Lauren murmured as she stared into her microscope. The two other women's eyes went to look at her. "Though, that _is_ understandable given her metamorphosis to a Homo sapiens."

"_A_ Homo sapiens?" Thana asked from her spot on the couch. "As in 'sapien' with an s? Is that like saying she transitioned to _a_ _humans_?"

Tamsin sighed with irritation as she rolled her eyes and explained like a know-it-all, "_Homo sapiens_ is the singular form. It's Latin, so if it were plural, it'd be _Homines sapientes._"

"How the fuck do _you_ know that?" Thana asked offendedly.

"I asked the same question," Tamsin smirked as Lauren looked up from her microscope. The Valkyrie held her normal spot on the counter, a safe enough distance from the lab.

"So you _do_ listen to me when I answer your questions," Lauren chuckled with amusement as she took the slide off the mechanical stage.

"Of course," Tamsin answered, though she shook her head no as she made eye contact with Thana.

"Thana, I need you to keep quiet about this," Lauren told her seriously. "We can't have the public know what I've created. Not yet anyway. And we definitely can't let me be the object of blame in regards to her cause of death."

"My boss knows she's dead. But I told him it's because she was attacked," Thana confessed. "I told him nothing else."

"Three," Tamsin ticked off on her fingers. Lauren threw her a look. "Tell him _nothing_ else and tell _no one_ else."

"Ooh... Can't promise that. But I can offer you—"

"Cut the blackmail bullshit," Tamsin sharply interrupted as she slid off the counter and approached Thana. "You won't be able to spill _shit_ if you're dead."

"You couldn't kill me even if you tried," Thana shot back. "It's illegal."

"I didn't say _I _was gonna kill you," Tamsin shrugged innocently. "But getting you killed, well, that's a different story. Tell me, how did you escape from your supposed 'skinning?' A little helper? _Sephie_, right? It'd be a shame if I... _told_ someone about this. Like maybe... Your _boss?"_

"You don't know who my boss is—"

"He works with Seph! You think I haven't been there? You think I haven't _done_ that already? _Please!_ If you're working for him, you got a lot to learn and a _long _way to go. And let me tell you—the path _isn't_ uphill."

"Maybe it wasn't for _you_—"

"It isn't for _anybody_! With our lifestyle, all you ever do is get screwed one way or another! Don't be stupid—"

"We have a problem," Lauren announced suddenly, snapping the women out of their conversation. "The Morrigan just texted me from a Fae hospital—she was knocked unconscious, Scarlett's body is missing, and Dr. Zoltan is nowhere to be found."

"Well that's gonna be one empty-ass funeral home," Thana commented. Tamsin slapped her. "_Ow_."

"What the hell are we gonna do now? We can't very well look for 'em. They could be _anywhere_," Tamsin complained. "And your test is in two days. They've already postponed it twice for you because something came up—the first time was inconvenient for them and the second time was inconvenient for you. Are you gonna pull that card again? It's gonna look like you're hiding something—"

"Isn't she?" Thana pointed out.

"Would you shut the fuck _up? Please?_" Tamsin snapped. "_God_."

"I knew I should've taken the body..." Lauren brought the palm of her hand to her forehead, closed her eyes and shook her head back and forth. "Oh God... What if Evony blames me?"

"No she doesn't... She texted you," Thana pointed out. "If she suspected you, she'd probably have you locked up somewhere by now.

"Or the fact that she _saw_ us leave with her own two eyes?" Tamsin put in. "If anything, it's her fault. She didn't think she'd need security on a suspicious Fae death? That's her own idiocy—"

The apartment door popped open as they heard someone's shod foot strike it with great force. The three of them turned to face the doorway and gasped as the stranger walked in wearing a mask, matching gown and scrubs, hairnet, sunglasses and bloody gloves.

"Mea culpa," the muffled voice said to them before pulling the surgical mask down and leaving crimson smudging on it. "I did not feel safe anywhere else... I felt I could come here."

"_Fuck_..." Tamsin muttered under her breath as the person kicked the busted door and slammed it shut. The Valkyrie rubbed the back of her neck as the Keres ran her fingers through her own hair. Lauren gaped as the intruder pulled the hairnet off and dropped it on the floor, revealing a glossy, coppery head of of hair.

With impressive skill, the gloves were peeled off one by one, the wearer's hands never touching their bloody exteriors, and were dropped onto the hairnet that'd landed between two black, leather men's dress shoes.

"I figured you guys could give me some answers," the enterer shrugged, untying the gown and pulling it off before dropping it over the rest of the medical gear and revealing crisply-creased slacks complete with a belt and a white collared shirt tucked in to perfection. "The Morrigan wasn't very helpful."

The intruder bundled up the medical gear, tying the gown in such a way that it resembled a hobo sack, full of the matching accessories. The makeshift sack dangled from a single index finger.

"Dr. Lewis... I presume you know how to properly dispose of this," the intruder remarked as the sunglasses were removed and revealed a set of entrancing green eyes. "Please do so_ promptly_—being someone of your stature, I'm sure you understand the need to practice BSI."

"BSI?" Tamsin whispered to Lauren who nodded.

"Body Substance Isolation," she quietly explained before going over to the impatient visitor and taking the bundle.

"Thank you, ma'am..." the person nodded at the doctor once before turning to face the petrified Valkyrie. _"Tamsin_... so good to see you."

The blonde's heart pounded in her chest like a lioness ready to pounce and break through her rib cage. She tried to regulate her ragged breathing before forcing herself to speak.

"Scarlett."


	12. Surprises

"You'll have to excuse my _fashion faux pas_," Scarlett told them, though she didn't seem to really care. In fact, she looked good in her masculine attire. The three gawking women would be lying if they said they didn't feel remotely attracted to her in that moment. She unfastened the first few buttons of the shirt before tucking the sunglasses into her crisp, white shirt. "Dr. Zoltan was the only source of covering... I couldn't find where they'd discarded my clothes and I couldn't very well walk out in the nude. Luckily, he is a petit man..."

"_Amazing_..." Lauren murmured distracted by Scarlett's presence. "That would explain irregular degree of apoptosis..."

She stared at the woman with pure awe and this grated on Tamsin.

"So like... Are you _actually_ human or are you technically a zombie?" the Valkyrie rudely asked after clearing her throat.

"Me?" Scarlett responded as she pointed to herself. "Oh, well right now, I'm_ on the lam._"

"Don't I know what that's like..." Lauren muttered, earning another sideways glance from Tamsin.

"Dr. Lewis... I don't know where else to go," Scarlett confessed. She seemed almost nostalgic. "The Fae have always been my life. My identity. It was who I was."

She paused and met eyes with the three of them individually.

"And now that that part of me is gone... I have nowhere to go," she admitted.

"How about away?" Tamsin suggested venomously. She did not want anything else to endanger the doctor. The Fae would go to the ends of the earth to tarnish her already questionable reputation.

"So I came here," the human finished.

"_Tamsin_..." Thana murmured. She sounded sympathetic.

"Oh, shut up," the Valkyrie grouched. Lauren's scolding gaze shifted on her. "What?"

"You're being kind of rude."

"_Rude_?" Tamsin asked shrilly as she stepped forward, crossing her arms and giving the doctor an incredulous look. "You want to know what's _rude? _Plotting to kill someone. Right, Scarlett? You want to know what's even_ ruder? _Not warning the person. Right, Thana? Lauren—I'm just following suit here."

"Y-You were going to kill me?" Lauren inquired as she turned to look at the human. Scarlett shamefully nodded.

"I swear I'm over that now," Scarlett told her vehemently.

"What'd you do with Zoltan?" Tamsin demanded to know. Scarlett hesitated. "You killed him, right?"

"Well, what else was I supposed to do with him? I couldn't leave a witness—"

"Lauren, are you _hearing_ this? She—" Tamsin asked the doctor.

"At least with him dead, it'll look like I'm still dead and he simply took my body."

"But how would that benefit him?" Thana pointed out.

"Where's the body?" Lauren asked. "If you left it somewhere, someone's bound to find it and as soon as they do, this'll all be over."

"It's in safekeeping. I'm not a complete idiot."

"I'll take it in," Lauren offered cautiously as she watched for a reaction from the Valkyrie. "My lab is _my_ lab. No one has access but me."

"Why're you helping her?"

"Because I was human once," Lauren responded with surprising intensity. "Scarlett is running for a good reason."

"You can't possibly be siding with her because she's human..." Tamsin shook her head. "Lauren, if you keep associating with humans, the Fae are going to use that to their advantage and deem you human. You'll be back on death row!"

She paused.

"You need to start thinking about other things, Lauren. Yourself, for example. Your safety is a priority right now. We can't let them win," Tamsin finished.

"They're not going to find out," Lauren insisted. "Scarlett is dead. Dead once, dead forever. Besides... If they see her now, how could they possibly recognize her? All we have to do is keep up the charade of Zoltan having her. And if Zoltan is missing, who else is there to ask? The Morrigan?"

"And the Morrigan won't say anything," Thana agreed, seeing Lauren's logic.

"One problem," Scarlett told them. "I can't keep Zoltan in a cooler forever."

"You put him in a _cooler!?_" Tamsin asked with sheer frustration. She set her hands on her hips and gave Scarlett a dirty look. "What happened to 'I'm not a complete idiot?'"

"Not a _cooler_..."

The Valkyrie took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose before forcing herself to relax.

"A _freezer_ of some sort. It's hard to explain. You'll know when you see it."

"Look. You can't keep him in a cooler or a freezer or _whatever_ forever," Tamsin told her. "And Lauren, if they send a shifter out to find him, they'll find him here undoubtedly."

"So what do we do?" Thana asked.

"I've got an idea. Tell me where the body is," Tamsin told her reluctantly. She really didn't want to help, but if it meant Lauren's safety, she was going to have to.

"In the basement of the old abandoned building I used to live in..." Scarlett admitted. "In retrospect, that probably wasn't the best locational idea..."

"God dammit..." Tamsin muttered. She went over to Lauren's lab and yanked open multiple drawers at a time, rummaging through them.

"Tamsin, you _know_ I hate it when you—"

"Okay, I'm good," Tamsin interrupted as she held up a syringe containing a clear solution. She then went over and grabbed both Scarlett and Thana.

"You two are coming with me."

"What do I do?" Lauren asked.

"Nothing," Tamsin replied. "Just stay here and be prepared for the Morrigan."

•••

"So what's the plan?" Thana asked as she stared into the cooler. The doctor's body was positioned as if he'd gotten trapped in there.

"He was shouting in there for quite a while..." Scarlett told them quietly as she looked somberly at the naked frozen corpse. "I wanted to let him out."

"Well, you didn't," Tamsin replied apathetically. She took two phones and handed one to Scarlett as she made a point to look over at the Keres, which cemented who the imposter from before was. "That's yours. Keep it with you. If you run into any problems or have any questions, message me. Don't do anything else. Understand?"

The Valkyrie began dialing a number and held the phone up to her ear as she listened to the ring.

"Tamsin," the Morrigan greeted upon answering. "What do you want?"

"You got a concussion?" Tamsin snarked. "Irritability is a symptom."

"_What_ do you want?" Evony repeated.

"You got swindled real good..." Tamsin chuckled. She saw panic arise in her companions, but ignored their gestures for her to be quiet. "If I were Zoltan, I'd be laughing at you right now..."

"Get to the point," Evony snapped.

"If I were Zoltan..." Tamsin paused for effect. "I'd be _dead_."

Scarlett began to pace back and forth and Thana glared at the Valkyrie as she began to tell the Morrigan the details on Dr. Zoltan's untimely death.

"See, I tracked him down—you know, because I love you so much," Tamsin commented flatly. "And turns out, he fled to Scarlett's old apartment. In fact, she's here with him."

The redhead made a dash for the door, but the Valkyrie stopped her and continued with her story.

"But it looks like he trapped himself in a freezer. So he froze to death. A true genius he was..." Tamsin rolled her eyes.

"And Scarlett's body?"

"Oh, her body?" Tamsin eyed the redhead, who looked like a deer in headlights as the Valkyrie approached. The blonde took out the syringe, uncapped it with her mouth and flicked it as she cradled the phone between her face and shoulder. She then wrapped her arm around Scarlett's head to prevent her from moving before sticking the needle into her neck and injecting the solution. "It's still here."

After some gasping and wide-eyed, silent panic, Scarlett dropped to the floor, limp and without protest as her eyes closed. Thana stared at her before looking up to Tamsin.

"I'm on my way," Evony grumbled as she hung up. Tamsin followed suit before pocketing her phone.

"I can't believe you just _did_ that—" Thana began, but Tamsin shushed her.

"You're gonna pay," Tamsin told her before she turned and began unbuttoning Scarlett's shirt.

"What're you doing?"

"I doubt Zoltan went into the freezer naked," Tamsin answered as she took the shirt off the woman. "If anything, this dead body should be the one that's naked—I mean, she did just come out of a morgue, didn't she?"

Thana shut up and let the Valkyrie work while she tried to figure out her own role in the whole operation.

Tamsin clearly wanted to make it look like Dr. Zoltan took the body, right? And that he accidentally locked himself in the freezer with her, right? So what the hell was her part in this?

She eyed the freezer before figuring out that it couldn't be locked from the inside, only the outside. And Dr. Zoltan was smart enough to leave it unlocked, so someone else would've had to be there to lock it—

Wait. Was Tamsin setting her up? Was she going to pin this all on her? Scarlett's second death, Zoltan's murder—was it all going to somehow lead back to her?

She looked up, but but the Valkyrie had vanished and the Keres seethed. How could she have been so stupid?

A car door slamming shut snapped her from her bout of rage and she rushed over to the window to see the Morrigan emerge from a black car with tinted windows and make her way inside.

"_Shit_..." Thana hissed as she backed away from the glass. She felt herself collide with another body and turned around to see Tamsin smirking at her.

"Scarlett's body is in the freezer," Tamsin explained. "With Zoltan's."

"O-Okay..." Thana gulped, still wondering how everything would unfold.

"That's how we found them," Tamsin insisted, stepping into the Keres' personal space. "_Partner_."

"U-Understood."

"He fled with the body and the door jammed shut because of the excess amount of ice," Tamsin told her, never breaking eye contact.

"Lauren's gonna be mad that you didn't help her," Thana whispered.

"I don't give a shit," Tamsin growled. "Loose ends are loose ends. You're lucky I didn't do anything to you too."

Thana glared at her.

"You're gonna agree with everything I say, little miss witness. Because that's what you are. A witness. You and I went bounty hunting and found him like this. Our stories are going to agree. And then, after we're cleared, you're gonna recommend that Scarlett's body is going to be stored with Lauren. And _why _would the Morrigan agree to this? Because Lauren's the only doctor to know about Scarlett's transition. She can't reject it. We have her cornered. And no matter what happens, you don't _ever _sell me out. Got it?"

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Because you're an accessory. And if I go down, I'm taking you with me," the Valkyrie, though the same height, seemed to tower over the Keres as her eyes burned holes into her. Thana nodded just as the Morrigan came through the door. They immediately turned from each other, putting a friendly amount of space between themselves, and faced the Morrigan.

"Show me the way," she sighed and the two blondes nodded at her before gesturing toward the freezer. She walked over to it, her heels clicking against the gritty cement floor. She stared at the lock and Tamsin opened the door to the walk-in freezer. The brunette peeked inside and saw the man, now fully dressed, and Scarlett, fully unclothed. She nodded and Thana closed the freezer door. "Well, I suppose it's only fair he died. You go poking around in Fae business, it's bound to happen."

"I agree. It was none of his business," Thana told her. Tamsin nudged her. "But, uh... What'll happen to Scarlett's body?"

"We'll have to burn it," Evony simply answered.

"Lauren still has to do more tests," Tamsin informed the brunette. "Her last ones were inconclusive—no leads on the murderer."

"Well, I no longer have a morgue attendant, so what other option do I have?" Evony asked. Tamsin shrugged innocently.

"Why not just have Lauren keep it? I mean, she's a doctor too, like Zoltan was, but she knows about the transition. Then you won't have to worry about her finding out about it. And you know she'll keep quiet about it because she wouldn't want to risk her life."

"Why not just burn the body?" Evony pressed.

"Because we still have to figure out who killed her," Tamsin insisted. "Lauren's test results were inconclusive and Scarlett's assailant may have some of the stolen solution left—we don't even know."

The Morrigan looked at her strangely, and the Tamsin swore she began to sweat under her gaze, but still the Valkyrie remained unyielding.

"Good point. Lauren stores the body. I'll check on it weekly. If she proves to be trustworthy, that'll extend to biweekly and so on," Evony informed the Valkyrie. Her dark eyes bore into her very core as she nodded. "Pass this onto the good doctor. Wouldn't want any surprises."

"Of course not," Tamsin nodded once again as she clasped her hands behind her back.

"Especially not right before her big day," Evony continued with a threatening edge to her voice.

"_Your_ big day," Tamsin corrected her strangely. "You made quite the catch."

"That's right. _My_ big day..." Evony trailed off and looked Tamsin up and down. "And one more thing from me for her ears to hear: tell her she's not gonna get away with half the shit the Light let her get away with."

The blonde eyed Thana, who cast her own to the floor.

"If she wants something, she can simply ask."

The Morrigan's concluding statement surprised Tamsin, but she showed no reaction as she suspected Evony was up to something. She always was. Hospitality was not her forte.

"I will make sure to tell her _everything_," was Tamsin's solemn reply.

•••

"Tamsin, I can't manage the Morrigan coming over every week to check on Scarlett's body—by the way, I am _very_ disappointed with you for that. Your... Lack of judgment in that situation was _astounding_. You should've cleared it with me first."

The Valkyrie, who had her arms crossed, leaned back against the counter and rolled her eyes as she blew out a sigh while the doctor continued on her lecture.

"And I don't know what the hell you were thinking when you agreed to that," Lauren commented. "And second of all, how the hell do you expect Scarlett to handle all this? She can't just have a weekly bout of unconsciousness. That's not good for the body, but even more so now that she's human. Not to mention the trauma it's already been through with the metamorphosis."

"Hey—she's not _dead_," Tamsin reasoned, shrugging and still standing by her choice.

"As a doctor, I cannot condone this."

"Oh come on..."

"Tamsin! You don't get it! _Repeated_ unconsciousness—"

"Weekly at first," Tamsin reminded her evenly. "Biweekly later."

"_Tamsin_..." Lauren gave her an annoyed look.

"How about a medically-induced coma?"

"_No,_" Lauren adamantly told her as she crossed her arms. "I took a Hippocratic oath."

"Screw your hippopotamus oath."

"_Hippocratic_."

"Whatever. It was the only way to appease everyone from every angle," Tamsin insisted. "Thana thinks I killed her. So what? That's one less person to know about her. Morrigan thinks she's dead, which is what she should think. And I kept her alive as you asked. It's all good."

"It's not _'all good_,' Tamsin."

"Besides... Doesn't the hippocampus oath apply to humans?"

"_Hippo-cratic," _Lauren repeated, pronouncing every syllable for the taller blonde_._

"That's what I said," Tamsin responded, but the doctor shook her head. "What'd I say?"

"You said '_hippopotamus_,' first, which is an African semi-aquatic mammal, to put it simply—"

"_Simply_," Tamsin scoffed.

"And then you said '_hippocampus_—'"

"Okay, I where would I have even _learned_ that word? I don't even know what that _is."_

"From me, most likely. Whether or not you actually knew what it was. And I was getting to what it is. It is essentially gyri in the lateral ventricles of the brain. The area is associated with memory, mostly, but also emotion and autonomic nervous system, which is basically all your involuntary bodily functions... That's why it's called the _autonomic_ nervous system—it's from the Greek word _autonomos_ which stems from _autos_, meaning _self_, and _nomos_, meaning _law_," Lauren nodded casually. "_Autonomy_ also comes from that."

Tamsin blinked blankly.

"It's self-governing, basically."

The Valkyrie just stared.

The doctor cleared her throat with a smirk and said, "You were saying?"

"Good question..." Tamsin muttered as she retraced the conversation topics. "Um... Oh yeah. Doesn't the_ Hippocratic_ oath apply to humans only?"

"Scarlett_ is_ human. Remember?"

"Oh yeah..." Tamsin paused. "Then we have to kill her."

"_NO_."

"Then what_ do_ you want to do?"

"I don't know!"

Tamsin's eyes went distant and she chewed the inside of her lip, barely believing what her brain was suggesting.

"Then there's only one other thing to do..." she whispered, shifting her gaze to the doctor. "We have to take the Morrigan out."


End file.
